How I Met Lilly, The Helmeted Guineafowl

One bright morning this summer, as the sun was generously blazing its intense rays upon the cityscape, all kinds of routine morning sounds filled the atmosphere. It was late morning so rush hour traffic had begun, and there was a sense of hurriedness around as city noises filled the air. A honk from a car rushing by, a distant sputter of a passing helicopter, and an unfamiliar squak here and there. Typical sights and sounds of the city- all but the squak. Hence, as I walked out of my door to start my day, I had no idea of the rarity that awaited. Mind distracted with the to-dos ahead, and paying little attention to the various sounds, I kept walking until I arrived upon an unusually pleasant scene. Positioned beside my car, and catching me by surprise, was a lovely large bird greeting my arrival. Although, at the time I wasn’t sure what type of bird it was, its large gray frame, striking white head, and sturdy thick legs, made me certain that it belonged to a rather interesting, and exotic family of birds. Alluringly plumed birds of this size usually don’t tend to be roaming around your premises in Los Angeles. Thus, you can imagine my amazement to see it cheerfully waddling about near my car.

Stepping lightly with careful approach, I slowly went closer to the large bird, and started to softly speak to it, almost at a whisper. Whereupon it stopped, nonchalantly turned, and answered me with a rather loud and resounding “squawk!”, and continued to waddle around the car. I was stumped! It sounded nothing like a chirp of a bird, neither was it like a cluck of a chicken, nor was it like a rooster crow. No, this was a very unique sounding call, that was coming from a very special bird indeed.

As is customary, when seeing something extraordinary as such, I took out my phone and started taking photos of this fantastic sight- which the bird seemed to enjoy. After spending some time together, it was getting late, and it was time for me to leave. Thinking that it would be the last I would see of the beautiful bird, I reluctantly bid it farewell, and was on my way.

Upon my return home, later in the afternoon, I was thrilled to see that the big exotic looking bird was still there, leisurely waddling around the front yard, and again greeting my arrival. With a huge smile on my face I happily approached the bird, and as I bent down to get closer, it turned around once more, in its signature laid back manner, and gave me another “Squak!” I had to laugh! This sound that it makes, it’s delightfully different, but a jarring juxtaposition to the relaxed, and casual demeanor that the bird exudes. One would never imagine that such a sound would come out of such an elegant creature upon hearing it for the first time.

In the midst of these fun moments, I felt the heft of the summer air. The sun’s rays were ablaze, the weather had gotten quite hot, and I began to think that the bird should be thirsty by now. So, I put out a bowl of cool, refreshing water for it to enjoy, but no food yet, as I didn’t know what it’s diet consisted of, or what it preferred to eat. I then starting doing some research as to what type of bird it was. I kept thinking “Is it a wild turkey?”, “A rare chicken?”, It has spots, sort of like a peacock when it fans out it’s tail feathers, so… “Is it a type of peacock?”, I wasn’t sure. And after doing my research on the internet, I still was not able to come to a definitive conclusion.

My only solution…Mom! My mother, Ana. She is a zoologist, consequently, her knowledge of the animal kingdom is vast and very accurate. My mother’s knowledge, passion, and compassion for animals is the reason that I love animals myself, and have a huge interest in nature and wildlife. Later in the evening, when we had a chance to speak, I showed her the wonderful large bird I’d met in the yard. At first glance, she immediately knew, ” It’s a Helmeted Guineafowl” she said, scientific name “Numida Meleagris”. Yay! Mystery solved. Now I knew what kind of bird it was but what does eat?

Well, it turns out that its diet consists of insects, seeds, fruit, snails, spiders, worms, and even frogs and snakes. But a regular poultry diet with an increase of protein will do. As they need more protein that the average chicken. Another great fun fact is that they eat ticks, and are regularly used in the effort to control Lyme disease. My mother also said, that the Helmeted Guineafowl are often times domesticated and kept and raised as pets. Therefore, the most likely scenario is that the bird must have been a pet of a neighbor that had moved and was left behind. And as far as conservation is concerned, I was very happy to learn that our bird friend is of a species of large birds, that is thankfully not endangered, in fact their numbers are steadily increasing.

Nevertheless, from that day forward, the Helmeted Guineafowl has decided not to leave and has made herself quite at home. I’ve named her Lilly, because she has taken a particular liking to a bed of lilies that grow next to the plumerias in my garden. She likes to play and waddle around the flowers with a feral kitty she has befriended. She also likes to “squawk!” a lot, very loudly, in repetition, and it sounds kind of like a duck-except not exactly, just a certain cadence at times. But that sound has now become quite familiar, and endearing. Also, remember how she was waddling around the car when I first saw her? That mystery has been solved as well. During the day, after playing in the flowers, Lilly prefers to nap under an orange tree in the backyard. She also seems fond of relaxing in the shade way back in the yard where trees meet like a canopy. However, when it comes to her nocturnal sleeping arrangements she has picked a rather strange location to make her bed. You see, as soon as the sky starts to darken, Lilly flies up and sleep on the hood of my car! As I understand it, Helmeted GuineaFowl like to sleep high up in trees at night. But Lilly, she prefers a car hood. Seems she picked her residence here because she liked the car, and is a Land Rover fan. Ha!

For the time being, this is Lilly’s home. She seems to be enjoying her stay, and I enjoy having her here. No matter what the future brings, for now this lovely bird has made my days a little more special. Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked the story of how I met Lilly, the Helmeted Guineafowl.