Sydney Is for the Birds. The Bigger and Bolde

【导读】2月下旬，纽约一只名叫弗拉科（Flaco）的猫头鹰不幸离世，引发媒体广泛关注，纽约市民纷纷化身观鸟人和爱鸟人，通过多种方式悼念这只带给他们快乐和启发的传奇的鸟。一个月后，在地球另一面，斑鸠和布谷的啼叫唤醒沉睡的北京，大街小巷的人们通过这种独特的声音建立起与悠久传统的连结，也畅想起“人与自然和谐共生的中国式现代化”。

在南半球的大都市悉尼，鸟与城市的关系又呈现出另一番景象。这座集海岸、港湾、河流、森林为一体的“翡翠城”是各类本土鸟和外来鸟的天堂。译者仍清晰记得，若干年前初到悉尼时，曾把乌鸦错听成啼哭的婴儿，把笑翠鸟错听成狂笑的醉汉；在室外餐桌用餐时，不知名的小鸟落到桌上，若无其事地分享我的午餐，而几只我误认为白鹤的大鸟就在垃圾桶边上徘徊。

达米安·凯夫这篇文章标题里的“悉尼宜鸟”绝非虚言。读完这篇文章，我们会进一步了解到：笑翠鸟固然调皮、聒噪，但对于家庭和孩子却意义重大，还是一夫一妻的典范；被人们称为“垃圾鸟”的白鹮其实走过了一段非凡的环境适应历程；而公园里的各种鸟儿带给老年朋友们的快乐超出我们的想象……

鸟与城市的关系之所以重要且有趣味，是因为它不单是生态环境问题，更关乎现代都市人的心灵需要和诗意寄托，代表着人们对于城市共同生活的美好想象，从一个终极的意义看，也象征着人类对于地球家园的一份温情。

The bushy pair of laughing kookaburras that used to show up outside my daughter’s bedroom window disappeared a few months ago.

几个月前，经常出现在我女儿卧室窗外的一对羽毛浓密的笑翠鸟突然不见了。

The birds simply vanished—after rudely waking us every morning with their maniacal “koo-koo-kah-KAH-KAH” call， after my kids named them Ferrari and Lamborghini， after we learned that kookaburras mate for life.

它们就这样凭空消失了——在每天早晨用疯狂的“呼呼——哈哈哈——”叫声毫不客气地将我们吵醒之后，在我的孩子们给它们取名法拉利和兰博基尼之后，在我们了解到笑翠鸟属于配偶终生相伴的鸟类之后。

And here’s the odd thing： I missed them.

然而奇怪的是，我开始想念它们。

This is not normal， at least not for me， but Sydney has a rare superpower： It turns urbanites into bird people， and birds into urbanites. Few other cities of its size （five million and counting） can even come close to matching Sydney’s still-growing population of bold， adaptable and brightly colored squawkers.

这并不寻常，至少对我来说不寻常，但悉尼有种罕见的超能力：它能将城市居民变成爱鸟人，将鸟类变成城市居民。在与悉尼规模（500万人口且仍在增长）相近的城市中，几乎没有哪个地方比得上悉尼的鸟类数量，这里的鸟儿胆大、适应能力强、色彩鲜艳、种群数量仍在增长。

“We’ve got a lot of large conspicuous native birds that are doing well and that is very unusual globally，” said Richard Major， the principal research scientist in ornithology for the Australian Museum in Sydney. “It’s quite different in other cities around the world.”

“我们有许多体型大、辨识度高的本地鸟，它们生活得很好，这在全球范围都很少见，”位于悉尼的澳大利亚博物馆的鸟类学首席研究科学家理查德·梅杰表示，“与世界其他城市大不一样。”

The reasons—some natural， others man-made—are fascinating， and we’ll get to them. But lest anyone doubt Mr. Major’s assertion， at a time when the bird population of North America is suffering a steep decline， compare a typical day of avian interactions in Sydney with anywhere else.

其中的原因——有自然的，也有人为的——都很有趣，我们会逐一了解到。但在这样一个北美鸟类数量急剧下降的时候，为了避免有人质疑梅杰先生的说法，我们不妨将悉尼鸟类普通一天的活动与其他任何地方做个比较。

Morning here begins with a chorus. Relentlessly chirpy， the noisy miner blasts the alarm before dawn alongside the screeching and flapping of rainbow lorikeets， parrots brighter than Magic Markers and that argue like toddlers. And of course， there are the kookaburras， with their cackles carrying across neighborhoods declaring： “This is MY territory！”

悉尼之晨始于百鸟齐鸣。黎明前，聒噪矿鸟便开始不停地吱吱喳喳，与彩虹鹦鹉的尖叫声和拍翅声一同组成响亮的闹钟，这种鹦鹉的羽毛比魔术笔还鲜亮，它们会像顽童一样争吵。当然，还有笑翠鸟，它们的笑声响彻社区，宣示着：“这是我的地盘！”

A walk to the car or train may require dodging attacking magpies—in spring， they swoop down on your head to protect their young—and rarely does a week go by without seeing a sulphur-crested cockatoo， or a dozen， spinning on a wire like an escaped circus act.

步行到汽车旁或火车站可能需要闪躲喜鹊的袭击——春天，为了保护幼鸟，它们会俯冲到你的头顶——而且很少有一星期见不到一只或十几只葵花凤头鹦鹉在电线上旋转的样子，就像从马戏团逃出后在表演。

Even the local scavenger is extraordinary. As grubby as any New York pigeon but much grander， the white ibis， known here as a “bin chicken，” is a hefty， prehistoric-looking creature with a curved beak.

甚至本地的食腐鸟类也绝非俗物。白鹮在这里被称为“垃圾鸟”，和纽约市的鸽子一样邋遢，但体型却要壮硕得多，是一种有着史前外观的弯喙大鸟。

It’s a remarkable mix.

这真是一种奇特的混搭。

Even as ornithologists point out that some small birds are struggling in the city， they note that a generation or two ago， Sydney didn’t have nearly as much avian diversity as it does today， nor as many flocks of birds that have mastered what city living requires： competitiveness， an obsession with real estate and the ability to adapt.

虽然鸟类学家指出一些小型鸟类在悉尼处境艰难，但他们也指出，一两代人以前，悉尼的鸟类还没有今天这么多样，也没有这么多掌握了城市生活秘诀的鸟类种群，这些秘诀包括竞争力、对建筑物的喜好和适应能力。

Why so many birds are thriving here is increasingly a subject of international study. Scientists believe it is due in part to how Sydney was settled—relatively recently， compared with many global cities， with less intrusion into wildlife habitats.

为什么这么多鸟类在这里繁衍生息，这日益成为一个国际研究的课题。科学家们认为，部分原因是悉尼的定居方式——与许多全球性城市相比，悉尼的定居时间相对较晚，对野生动物栖息地的入侵程度相应也轻一些。

The luck of local terrain has helped. Sydney’s rocky coastline didn’t lend itself to clearing land for agriculture， which slowed development and left lots of native plants untouched. Australia’s early leaders also set up large national parks near Sydney， protecting bushland for animals of all kinds.

得天独厚的地形地貌也起了作用。悉尼岩石密布的海岸不适合农垦，这使得土地开发速度减缓，大量本土植物得以保存。澳大利亚的早期领导者还在悉尼周边划设大面积的国家公园，从而保护了各类动物赖以栖息的原始林区。

But making the city a bird capital was probably not on their agenda. The British colonialists in charge hated the sound of Sydney’s birds enough to import songbirds like common starlings to soothe their tender ears.

但使这座城市变成鸟都或许不在他们的计划之列。英国殖民者当局对悉尼的鸟叫声厌恶得无以复加，为了安慰自己敏感的耳朵，他们引进了诸如普通椋鸟一类的鸣禽。

Today， some early examples of those imports， from the 1860s， are stuffed and tagged in the Australian Museum’s collection room. When I stopped by one recent morning， Leah Tsang， the museum’s ornithology collection manager， sifted through the white metal cabinets containing the taxidermy archives to show me the supposed improvement sent from Europe.

如今，一些1860年代引进的早期鸟种被做成标本存放在澳大利亚博物馆的收藏室里。不久前一个早晨，我去参观了该博物馆。鸟类收藏管理员利娅·曾在一个个白色的金属柜子里查找标本档案，她想向我展示来自欧洲的所谓改良品种。

The juvenile starlings in the tray looked small， dark and… dull.

盘子里的幼年椋鸟看上去又小又黑……羽色暗淡。

A few cabinets over， Dr. Tsang showed me her own favorite bird—the princess parrot， a lovely Australian specimen of soft pastels， in pink， blue and green.

走过几个这样的柜子，曾博士向我展示了她最喜欢的鸟——公主鹦鹉，那是一只可爱的澳大利亚鹦鹉的标本，有着柔和的粉、蓝、绿三色羽。

If the young starling’s feathers evoked the lackluster mood of a Benjamin Disraeli portrait， the princess parrot was Elton John.

如果说幼年椋鸟的羽毛让人想起本杰明·迪斯雷利肖像画的沉闷，那么这只公主鹦鹉就是艾尔顿·约翰。

“I had one as a pet when I was a kid，” said Dr. Tsang， 40， who sported some bold plumage herself， a shock of electric blue hair in a ponytail. “Its name was Cheeky.”

“我小时候养过一只作宠物。”现年40的曾博士说，她身上就戴着醒目的羽毛配饰，耀眼的电光蓝色头发扎成一个马尾辫，“它的名字叫小淘气。”

She told me she came to birds late in life， at least as a career. She worked in technology for nearly a decade before ditching it for the birds.

她告诉我，她投入鸟类研究是后来的事，至少作为职业是这样。之前她在技术领域工作了近十年，为了鸟类放弃了那份工作。

“You want to do something that fulfills you and makes you happy，” she said， standing near a display of little penguins （yes， balmy Sydney has penguins， too）. She paused， and later told me she worried about sounding like a cliché.

“人总是想做些让自己感到充实和快乐的事。”她站在小企鹅展示柜旁说道（是的，温暖的悉尼也有企鹅）。她停顿一下告诉我，她担心自己这话听上去像陈词滥调。

But there’s no need to be ashamed of bird-loving. Not in Sydney.

但爱鸟并不是什么丢人的事。至少在悉尼不是。

That afternoon， I went for a walk in the city’s Centennial Parklands with John Martin， an ornithologist with the University of New South Wales who is working on a project looking at how Sydney’s cockatoos have adapted， learning to open garbage bins and knock on windows to ask people for food.

那天下午，我和新南威尔士大学的鸟类学家约翰·马丁一起去悉尼的百年公园散步，他正在研究葵花凤头鹦鹉如何适应悉尼的环境，比如学会开垃圾箱和敲击窗户向人们索要食物。

We stopped near a wetland in the park’s center. In less than an hour， we saw 20 species of birds—and old friends， Ann Birrell and Carol Bunton， who are park regulars.

我们在公园中央的一块湿地附近停下来。在不到1小时的时间里，我们看见了20种鸟——还看见了我们的老朋友安·比勒尔和卡罗尔·邦顿，他们都是公园的常客。

They surprised me with their knowledge of not just kinds of birds， but individual ones—two owls that had nested in an oak; a tawny frogmouth they had gotten to know; and the corellas flying overhead， pecking， wrestling and mating in the trees.

让我吃惊的是，他们不仅熟识鸟的种类，对个体也能娓娓道来——两只在橡树上筑巢的猫头鹰；一只他们才认识的茶色蟆口鸱；还有从头顶飞过，在树上啄食、搏斗和交配的白色凤头鹦鹉。

“There are ménages à trois，” observed Ms. Bunton， a retiree walking with a cane， nodding toward the corellas. “We’re interested in their behavior.”

“这里有一些三角恋关系。”拄拐杖的退休老人邦顿女士向着白色凤头鹦鹉点头说道，“我们对它们的行为很感兴趣。”

Dr. Martin walked us over to one of the ponds where ducks and other birds gather. He pointed out a white ibis with a yellow plastic number tag on its wing. “That’s Lennie，” he said.

马丁博士带我们来到一个池塘边，那里聚集着鸭子和其他鸟类。他指着一只翅膀上系着黄色塑料号牌的白鹮说：“那是伦尼。”

Lennie had been tagged as part of a study aiming to understand why Sydney seemed to have so many of these so-called bin chickens. The public sees them as a nuisance， but according to Dr. Major at the Australian Museum， they only started to appear in Sydney in the 1970s.

伦尼被标记是因为一项研究，人们想知道为什么悉尼有这么多所谓的“垃圾鸟”。公众认为这种鸟很讨厌，但澳大利亚博物馆的梅杰博士说，1970年代它们才开始出现在悉尼。

Researchers eventually discovered that the white ibis loves carbohydrates， making it a match for a city of fish and chips. But the big birds were also refugees of a sort; they had moved to Sydney because their natural wetland habitat further inland had been dried out by drought and heavy-handed water management.

研究人员最终发现，白鹮爱吃碳水化合物，这使它们适应了炸鱼和薯条盛行的城市。但这些大鸟也算是某种意3a81cfc9d5fbfea8c8a7dc1c8f64fc4b3444720b2fa35a170e527b0f22005632义上的逃难者；它们之所以迁徙到悉尼，是因为干旱和过度的水资源管理已经使它们在内陆的天然湿地栖息地变得干涸。

“We’re not sure if it’s climate change or not， but what we do know is that the coast has always been a refuge，” Dr. Martin said.

“我们不确定这是否是由于气候变化，但我们可以确定海岸一直是避难所。”马丁博士说。

Sydney is not ideal for all. Tiny birds like the superb fairy-wren， with its bright blue markings， seem to be declining because they need brambles and weeds to hide in， and urbanization tends to cut that away.

悉尼也不是所有鸟儿的天堂。一些小型鸟类的种群数似乎正在减少，比如有鲜蓝色斑状羽毛的壮丽细尾鹩莺，因为这些鸟类需要隐藏在黑莓灌木丛和杂草中，而城市化往往会破坏这些植被。

But for larger and more territorial birds， Sydney is quite comfortable home.

但是对于体型更大、更有领地意识的鸟儿，悉尼则是非常舒适的家园。

At one point in the park， we walked by a group of parrots with bright pink heads. They were galahs， which has become slang for lovable doofus. They didn’t make a sound， nor did they mind me getting within inches of them.

在公园里某个地方，我们路过一群亮粉色头的鹦鹉。它们名叫galah（粉红凤头鹦鹉），该词已成为俚语，意思是可爱的笨蛋。它们没发出任何动静，也不介意我凑近。

Many of Sydney’s birds seem to like their human neighbors. Scientists have determined magpies can form friendships with people. Cockatoos are highly social， too.

悉尼的许多鸟儿似乎都喜欢它们的人类邻居。科学家已经确定，喜鹊能与人类结成友谊。葵花凤头鹦鹉也是高度喜好社交的鸟。

I was wondering if the same was true for kookaburras， and then， as I was finishing this article， Ferrari and Lamborghini returned. They showed up just before dark and took their perch near my daughter’s window. They nuzzled. They screeched their unique good night and good morning. It’s quite a racket. But we’re hoping they stay.

我想知道笑翠鸟是否也是如此，这时，就在我快要写完这篇文章时，法拉利和兰博基尼回来了。它们在夜幕降临前的一刻出现，落在我女儿的窗户旁。它们相互依偎着，发出特有的晚安和早安的尖叫声。这是不小的一阵喧嚣。但我们都希望它们别再离开。

（译者单位：北京语言大学）