BRING BACK THE BIRDS

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, for instance, a century ago, Douglas Dewar had recorded several species — Grey partridges, bay backed and rufous backed shrikes, Jungle prinias, several species of babblers (apart from the commonly seen White headed) — within a five km radius of Fort St. George. These are now found only in large protected campuses like the Theosophical Society and the Guindy National Park. A few are even missing from here due to habitat modifications where the natural scrub forests have been modified into woodland habitats Ornithologist Santharam feels that the primary reason for decline in bird populations in urban areas is destruction of natural habitats, be it scrubland, woodland, wetland or open areas. “But actual pattern in local extinctions of birds may vary. Bird species with initially small populations and those at the edge of their distributional ranges; those that have specialised habitat and food requirements; and those that need large areas of habitats are among the earliest to vanish. And thanks to pollution and toxic build-up in food chains, birds at the top of the food-chain, the raptors, are also vulnerable.

“The scrub forest (tropical dry evergreen forests) harbours quite a few typical bird species. When this habitat is modified, many species disappear. Birds of prey like the White-bellied sea eagle, Brahminy kites, and Black-winged kites have moved away from the city proper where they were seen fairly regularly in 1970s and early 1980s. Loss of nesting trees, and increasing pollution levels could be some reasons for their disappearance apart from habitat loss. Old trees, essential for woodpeckers, owls, barbets and other hole-nesting birds, are becoming scarce. Open habitats needed for species like the lapwings, larks and pipits too are fast disappearing. The loss of marshy vegetation means loss of birds like the Purple moorhen, bitterns, Streaked weaver bird, Purple heron, rails such as the ruddy crake and clamorous reed warblers. And multi-storeyed flats in residential areas that replace nesting trees affected night herons and egrets.”

Often, in many urban areas, trees have been cut down by residents because they are frequented by roosting birds or because the owls, for whom they provide homes, are ‘bad omens’.

No nesting sites

Preston Ahimaz, World Wildlife Fund, India, says, “Sparrows, earlier common enough in cities across India and considered a ‘nuisance’, are fast vanishing (the switch from tiled-roof houses to modern structures has robbed them of nesting sites under the eaves). Munias (spotted and silverbill), partridges, even Green-billed malkohas were common in suburban areas, at least, in the early 1990s.So too the ubiquitous Red wattled lapwing. Conversion of open scrubland to agricultural land and finally to residential blocks has spelt doom to many birds. Honeycombed walls or walls with spaced out gaps at the base or barbed wire or chain-link fencing would enable many creatures to continue to use their annexed territories. ”

The satirical book, Another Field Guide to Little Known and Seldom Seen Birds of North America, has a memorable entry: “The Urban Snipe, depicting a couple of long-billed snipe-like birds, foraging along a street curb among th e discarded cigarette packs!” But in cities across India, many bird species, even common ones, have disappeared already, with their natural habitats over centuries now being converted into landfill sites for garbage. Or prime land for ‘development’.

Change attitudes

What can bring back the birds? Naturalist S. Theodore Baskaran says, “Better knowledge about birds, more green in the city and more parks. If the environment is clean, the birds will be back.” But Santharam concludes on an ominous note. “A few generalist birds may come back, but current public and official attitudes ensure that the return of several others may be near impossible”. Waking up to birdsong will soon become a forgotten memory in the Indian cities of tomorrow if we don’t care to do anything about it now