Question

an article about the disappearing birds from my city. herry up

Answer 1

It was only a decade or so ago that while soaking under the balmy sun on wintery Sunday afternoons, we’d chase tiny sparrows in a playful banter. Most homemakers in Indian cities back then would keep a small custom-designed mud bowl in which seeds and water was kept around the open balconies of houses, exclusively for birds to feed on. That was also a time when the grating sounds of crows would symbolize for an unexpected house visitor. As Indians, we have always had symbolic and somehow even mythological connotations to everything. In the same vein, the Indian vulture would often be treated as the demonic one that if caught sight of someone alone in an open space, would literally dive down and pull out the person’s eyes in a whiff.



The lone survivor; a rarely spotted Indian Eagle in Delhi sky. Credits: Gandharv Bhagat

With the coming of technology and match-box type buildings replacing the old flat roof houses with spaces for birds to make nests or lay eggs, that time is long gone. This change couldn’t have been prevented, many might argue, what with the hugely multiplying city population, in addition to an unprecedented migration of people into these urban centers in search of work.

That isn’t the only cause of the problem; it’s just one where the issue begins. No matter how busy you might be, one look at the sky, any time of the day, any Indian metro, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore or Chennai, the once-upon-a-time common city birds, thought of as symbiotic with man, are almost nowhere in sight today. This fact has been realized or may be semi-understood, what with House Sparrow being declared “State Bird of Delhi” in 2012, in an attempt to save the poor species and raise awareness about its life and habitat. Many reasons have been stipulated for the near extinction of the adored House sparrow (Passer domesticus), starting from radiation of mobile towers, declining urban green cover, housing designs, pesticide use and even lifestyle modification.

This is, however, just one part of the story, a side that almost everyone is aware of. The other side requires a bit of interest in ecological sciences, if not ornithology (the study of birds).