The Plight of our Avian Friends

A few years back, I remember waking up to the lovely sound of chirping birds. The chirps came in usually came in small bursts. The birds were calling to one another in that beautiful way they always do, the songs coming from different trees along the road. If their music were visible it would be petals falling like rain, every shade of the spring flowers, a kaleidoscope for the soul. And yes this even included the caw-caw of the crows. However this is but a memory of the past over the years the sound of their melodious music is slowly fading away and is being replaced by the sound of construction sites and automobiles.

There been several reasons for the disappearance of bird habitats from the interior city lanes and parks. But the fact remains with the loss of these colorful creatures is a matter of great concern for all of us. In recent times large amount of pesticides are being used for the maintenance of City parks and house gardens these pesticides kill the birds’ natural prey and poison the food chain, so instead, let the birds act as natural pest control. Another reason is the cutting down of roadside trees and trimming of the branches of the trees that border the lanes before the monsoon sets in to prevent the wires from entangling in the branches of the tree, however the fact that is often overlooked is that these trees and branches serve as homes for the nests of numerous birds, thus it leads to the depletion of a safe and secure nesting grounds. This problem is worsened by the fact that the birds are left homeless just before the monsoon. Another reason for their decline is the rise in the installation of communication towers on rooftops a study has shown that electromagnetic radiation from these towers affect the birds in a significant way making them leave the area. These are some of the reasons that the forced are forced to leave their homes and look for a new habitat.

BUT don't lose hope cause hope comes on a white horse and speaks of horizons yet unseen. There are a plethora of ways suggested for the preservation of bird life and habitat. Some of them can even be implemented by us. Old utensils are plastic boxes can be used to create bird baths of by simply filling them with water or food grains and placing them in the balcony this one simple method literally saves of whole bird family. You can also help by planting flowers/shrubs native to the area, thus avoiding any problems with invasive species while at the same time these plants attract insects then let the birds enjoy a buffet. Also don't forget to keep your cats indoor !! Avoid throwing plastics bottle caps or shopping bags cause the birds might mistake it for a delicious treat and might end up choking to death. Hand-rearing of orphaned fledglings should be undertaken by vets by opening specialized clinics for the same. Nesting areas in alcoves and groves need to be preserved by not cutting down trees and instead by rerouting the wires. Lastly the use of pesticides in parks and other green areas must be avoided. Not only birds but also in humans need a clean and green environment to live a good and peaceful life.

This was a topic on which we had to write an essay about for our class 10 English exam. I had to modify the original one and scale it up to "blog standard" ; )