The Wise Old Bird Story in English: Animal Stories for Kids

The wise old bird is taken from Panchtantra, which is a compilation of different moral stories by a great Hindu scholar. The story is about a pack of birds and a wise old bird. The old bird warns everyone to cut down the creeper while it's small, but no one pays attention. Soon the creeper grew big and a hunter climbed it to reach the nest. Therefore, everyone realises their mistake and feels sorry.

Pigeon and Hunter Story in English with Pictures

Once upon a time, a big flock of pigeons used to live in a nest on a large tamarind tree. The pigeons chose the tamarind tree because it was above the ground and had lots of tamarind in every season. One day a very old and wise pigeon saw a little creeper growing around the tree. He got worried and told everyone, "Dear pigeons, I see a little creeper growing below, let us cut it while it's small and soft.”

All the pigeons ignored the old bird as they felt very lethargic and didn't want to do any work. All of them went back into their houses and began living their normal life. Many months passed by and the creeper grew tall and thick. This made the old pigeon more worried, he once again went and said: " dear friends it's high time now, the creeper has grown very tall, and let's cut it down before something bad happens." All the pigeons once again ignored the old bird and went away to their houses.

A few days later all the birds went out to collect food for winter, that time a hunter came by the forest. He saw the tall tamarind tree and the nest and decided to spread a trap to catch the birds. He then thought about how to climb such a long tree and found the tall creeper around the tree. He climbed up the tree with the help of the creeper and planted his trap. By the evening the pigeons came back to the nest and no one noticed the trap. As all of them landed on the nest, they all got trapped.

All the pigeons started shouting and crying, but no one came for help. The wise old pigeon was very calm and silent. On asking about his calmness he replied: " I knew something like this will happen someday, I warned you guys to cut the creeper but all of you ignored me, now suffer." All the pigeons felt sorry and guilty. Soon they saw the hunter approaching from a distance.

The pigeons started panicking. The old pigeon had an idea and said "As the hunter will climb up all of us will lie down without moving. He will check us one by one and throw us down thinking we are dead. Once the last pigeon is thrown all of them will fly together before the hunter climbs down." Everyone agreed and acted dead.

The hunter climbed up and checked all of them one by one. As soon as the last bird was thrown down everyone flapped their wings at once and flew away. The hunter saw that the pigeon tricked him and felt very annoyed. The pigeons were finally saved and realised another mistake, all of them thanked the wise old pigeon and promised to never repeat such a mistake again.

Pigeons Trapped Inside the Hunters Trap

Moral of the Birds and Hunter Story

The birds and hunter story conveys the message of "Precaution is better than cure". We should always stay aware of the consequences and take immediate action. We should never wait until something bad happens and then take action.

Tips for the Parents

Parents must tell such stories full of morals and lessons to their kids. Stories like the birds and hunter story develop young minds and convey to them the message of being precautious. Narrate the bird and hunter story to your child and explain the moral and why it is important to listen to your elders.