Dare TO Think

Bring back the birds Waking up to birdsong may soon be a thing of the past if birds continue to disappear from the cities.   Rare sight: Woodpeckers in a residential area in Thiruvananthapuram. IT is certainly no secret that urban areas contain fewer species of birds than less-developed, more natural areas. The reasons are that urban areas offer fewer places to nest, less natural food and more chance for disturbance or worse by people. Rese arch has now revealed that urban noise levels also deter birds. But how many city dwellers care about this, I wonder. Birds that sing to communicate and to attract mates have to sing louder to be heard above the urban din. A recent paper by researchers, William E. Wood and Stephen M. Yezerinac, published in  The Auk , pointed out that birds need to e xpend extra energy to sing more loudly. This can affect the bird’s health. Bird diversity is also recorded to be lower in the noisier parts of the city. Habitat modification In Chennai, f...