The Nightjar: Master of Camouflage

0:00This is the outdo in wildlife segment, lessons in the language of the wild with Mufti Muhammad Qatrada Mufti Muhammad al-Salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Wa alaykum wa salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Ayyukin wa rahnaib al-Rayim Alhamdulillah, oh good Mufti, how are you doing this morning? Alhamdulillah, little chilly this morning but excellent A little chilly, certainly, but a frayn, but a wind Our senior presenter, in studio, Mawlana Muhammad Qatrada, the outside temperatures do not affect him the least, he's here with his sleeves rolled up You think it's a hot summer's day? Mufti, I was checking the pool temperature the whole week and anticipating it comes to a 20 degree and it starts warming It was 16, 17 and a half, it was almost starting 18 day before yesterday

1:00and yesterday I just jumped, I jumped in, I tried but it was too cold Mufti, just before the next interview, you could just kindly do me a favor please if it's possible Yeah, that Mufti's certificate of yours, kindly WhatsApp a copy to me please Mufti, this we've been speaking all about bush babies bush babies, interesting to hear about this Now, the bush babies are almost entirely nocturnal What special adaptations help them in the darkness? So, one of my bush babies are also called galagos or Ezmurana Qara, you know, going a lot to the hunting farms they call them nakhapis in the african language They are small primates and what allows them to actually thrive in darkness is

2:00they entice the sensory system essentially So everything from the way that Allah SWT has created the ears, the eyes, the sense, the ability to smell all of this has essentially equipped them So if you break it down and you know, one of the most common things that people notice with regards to a bush baby is obviously the enormous eyes So they're retinous, contain a very high proportion of rod cells Now these rod cells are responsible to absorb very low levels of light So it's actually excellent in detecting different shapes and movements in darkness but it's not the same as human beings in terms of something we call cone cells Now cone cells are therefore detailed color vision, right? So they're not looking at detailed color vision but the eyes are more adapted to seeing movement, to seeing different shapes, etc. but during very low level, low light exposure

3:01and those large eyes are actually giving them the ability to see things in the darkness but with those large eyes, they also have been restricted to a point in terms of how movable those eyes are in the sockets So to compensate that Allah SWT has lifted the animal the ability to move its entire head so that it's able to see better So it's not that its eyes are able to move a lot, it's more that its head is able to move a lot which allows them to see a lot better And then you look at their ears, so they have very large ears in proportion to their body, right? And this allows them to essentially have like many radar dishes on their head which can detect very minute sounds because remember they're going to be hunting insects all of these but they're hunting at night because like we said, they're nocturnal creatures So they have the ability for their ears to move independent from each other So one ear can be facing one direction and the other ear can be slightly offset to another direction

4:04And this allows them to pinpoint exactly where the noise is coming from and that helps them even move and mobilize during very low level low light exposures Then obviously, Marana you look at stuff like the body size, the balancing or the tail, how strong it is and how it allows the animal to move through the darkness etc But remember interestingly enough, these adaptations to move at night and to be able to navigate at night is not just so that they can hunt and they can survive but it's also for protection because they're moving around at night And as we know, many predators are also active at night These senses are not only there to find food but also at times used to detect danger Alright, Mashallah, really cute animals they are Movedi, they're famous, the wish babies are famous for the incredible jumping ability What makes it so special?

5:05So Marana, they can jump anything between 3 to 5 meters in one jump It's a lot when you think about it compared to their body size And they only weigh a few hundred grams essentially So for something that weighs a few hundred grams to launch itself like 3 to 5 meters is ridiculously, is a ridiculous thing about But the reason that they can do it is because of the extremely powerful hind limbs And then they've got an elongated ankle and foot structure So the muscles and tendons of the hind legs, they store and release energy very efficiently So if you have to pick shade, it's almost like compressing a spring and then opening that spring up And then the front limbs, they allow the ability to grab whatever it is they're going to So that they have some stability right? But remember, it's not every bush baby that jumps like this So I think it's important for us to understand it Because you get your, you get your luster bush baby and you get your great bush baby

6:05So the smaller gala goes tend to be much more spectacular leapses With your thick tail bush babies, something which is quite common in the organizational park as well They rely more on climbing, walking and running along branches But because they do it so quickly, it also looks like they just sort of You know, transport the transporting from one place to the next place very quickly So not all bush babies can jump the way that your smaller gala goes to jump But yes, it is because of the very strong hind limbs that they have That allows them to have that spring motion and just move from one place to the next It was like a lot Any questions anybody has regarding bush babies? You can WhatsApp us the questions on the number 727861548 Now, Molana, I'm off to this name bush baby Where does it come from? When you sent it through Molana Muhammad Karab First thought that you are maybe going to share some poiki recipes

7:08But where does this name bush baby come from? And how do bush babies communicate with one another? So Molana, they, the common explanation behind the name, right? So their name is actually a gala go or gala go different pronunciations And they, in Africa, it's like we said they call Nakhapis Maybe Molana Karab can give us the translation of a Nakhapi Molana Karab? Night monkey Exactly, it's a night monkey, right? So in Africa, that's what they call it But in English, the term bush baby is derived from the remarkable sound that they make like a crying of a baby So when you in the Krugane National Park, often in certain camps where they are bush babies It can actually be quite a yearly sound, it sounds like a baby screaming on the top of the lungs So the young parents start getting a bit paranoid and they go to the tent and they go to the bungalow And try and see if their child is screaming because it sounds so human-like That's actually where it gets its name from So the bush baby because of the baby like cry that it has, right?

8:09And then depending on terms of the communication that they have with each other Because this cry is not the only form of sound that they have They have clicks, squeaks, little barks, whistles, all these different things And they have an incredible amount of different calls But different calls mean different things So one call can ask the next bush baby, where are you? Another one can be a territorial call So all of these different communications through the sound is one of the reasons that the attributer and being called bush babies But one of the strange behaviors of a bush baby is something called urine washing So urine washing is when the animal urinates onto its hands and feet And as it moves through the different branches, it leaves a central behind And what does that do? It allows the next bush baby that's coming through to understand the communication that this bush baby has left behind subhanallah So they call it urine washing where they'll wash their hands and feet with urine

9:12And they constantly moving through the branches, leaving these different chemical communication and signals So that other bush babies that come through can already communicate with this animal without the animal being present Goodas imashaAllah What do they normally eat, Mufri? So majority of bush babies are generally omnivores, so they can eat anything from insects to fruit, to three gums, etc. Some species are very strongly insectivores, meaning they focus mostly on insects But remember they are very opportunistic Because they are so small, they have to vary their diet in order to survive So during a summertime when insects are a lot, they will focus a lot on eating insects and those sort of things But then is the seasons changing, food availability begins to change and when insects become less available Then they start focusing on three gums and three sepulot Because remember fruit also varies throughout the year, so not all your fruit is in summer, not all your fruit is winter

10:15So they will be opportunistic and eat whatever it is that is available during that season But they've got this very specialized teeth that Allah Sub-Ahanahu wa Ta'ala has given them And the structure is actually called a tooth comb, so the lower front teeth are projecting forward And they form like sort of a comb looking arrangement And they use it for grooming, but also it helps them when it's for many times of feeding And then they also have these very specialized claws that they use for grooming and also to keep themselves clean but also to forage, etc. So all of these different adaptations make pushpapes able to thrive by having a very varied diet in terms of what they need to eat And remember whenever they do eat because they're moving so much, they also have a very important role in terms of seed dispersal So they'll eat the fruit here, jump to that tree, make a dropping there, that fruit then moves on there And then they also play that significant role in the ecology to be able to germinate different trees and move different fruit plants from one area to the next one

11:21Somebody sends a WhatsApp, we're talking about bush babies, what about bush adults? So I reply to you and bush adults are the kudos There's a question that has come through from one of our listeners, Muftee, it says that which family do they fall under? Are they from the D D So, man, are they not? Bush babies are not actually from the D They are actually from part of their own order so they primates, if you look at the order, the sub order of them goes into something called the stref sirini That's the sub order and then the family that they are from is Gala Gai Day, so G-A-L-A-G-I-D-A-E So they primates essentially but then they have their own family order and then under that family order you get obviously your greater thick tail

12:24Gala G-A-L-A-G-G-L-A-G-L-A-G-L-A-G-L And how do they love it and reproduce? So Marama, every animal in Monataya is what it about the reproduction system, maybe you can explain So how they reproduce actually is or how they love actually is they at night will forage alone but then in the day they will sleep together So that's kind of to simplify it they have a family group but at night they don't generally move alone So let's call it solitary forages but not necessarily socially isolated animals But I think that's what makes sense. Now in terms of reproduction, remember they are mammals right so they are very dependent on their mothers for protection and management The female will leave her young in a sexual location out during the night when she goes on foraging etc. but she will return and she will nurse them as well

13:29And she will groom them and she will have them develop the skills that they require But in terms of their mating bush babies or the thick tail bush baby rather will commonly mate around July And then females will generally give birth early November anything from 1 up to about 3 level 1 will come And twins is very common with them. Twins is extremely common in terms of bush babies Okay, Mashallah. Multifinal question. What can the bush baby teach us from an Islamic perspective? So Manana, I think the greatest lesson that we can take out of the bush baby and something we discussed throughout this morning's discussion is they have been given various different adaptations So you know we can spoke of other animals that have got one unique adaptation but to be able to teach them what they have given the bush baby various different adaptations And it's not the strongest animal, it's not the fastest but Allah has made it so unique in its own way

14:29But it's exceptionally well equipped for what it needs to be good at. It's not exceptionally good at hunting like a wild dog for example It's not exceptionally fast like a cheetah but it's good at what it has been given from Allah supa'hanahu wa ta'ala And you know in the Arabic saying there's a very apt saying that comes in the Arabic language Every field has its person you know so not everyone has to be an excellent speaker not everyone has to be good at business not everyone has to be good at their hands Everybody has their place in the world and understanding your place will make you appreciate where you are So we should not then you know try and be something that we are not. So if we take that from the bush baby because it has its own subhanAllah adaptations Allah supa'hanahu wa ta'ala has given it It focuses on that and becomes a master in that. Now where do we understand this from? We look at the sahabar of the Allah wa anumaju nain Every single one of them will unique and strong in their own perspective. So if we look at Khalid ibn Ali radiAllah wa ta'ala ala'alahu

15:37He was renowned for his military leadership. Sayed ibn Athabid, he was known for his knowledge writing and his role regarding the Quran Abu Hurair al-Aliyallah wa anum in terms of his narrations of Hadith, Mu'ad ibn Jabal regarding his amazing ability to distinguish in the knowledge of halal in Haram O baybn Akab, the ability to recite Quran and his distinguish many in that. So remember Allah supa'hanahu wa ta'ala gave everybody their own unique ability Focus on that ability becomes strong at what your strength is and don't worry about trying to become strong at something else Because not everybody has to be strong at everything. So Islam wants us to have unity but not uniformity And that I think is the lesson that we take away today in shahallahu wa ta'ala is that you have been given a certain set of strengths and capabilities But Allah supa'hanahu wa ta'ala focus on those and don't try and become a jack of old trades but they master of nalid

16:38But if I explain to us what the bushbaby is all about like you mentioned known to scientists I think in Galagow Maholi Yes, I am learning quite a bit but if you talk next week Allah will speak next week I mean in shahallahu wa ta'ala jalakala, we will speak next week, say Allah wa ta'ala