Gone are the days when one would wake up to the sweet chirping of birds and spend the entire day listening to melodious bird songs. Most city dwellers suffer from the Nature Deficit Syndrome, due to which we are detached from nature and other living creatures. Modern architecture which is devoid of cubby holes and ventilators, where birds like sparrows generally build their nests, has left birds searching for nesting grounds. The lack of trees especially fruit bearing ones, have forced birds to find other places for food and shelter.
Bird monitoring
Mohammad Dilawar, founder of Nature Forever Society, says, “It is a matter of serious concern. The common birds of today may become a rarity if we are not careful.” This unfortunate reality has given rise to the setting up of the online Common Bird Monitoring of India (CBMI).
CBMI is a citizen science programme, under which one can become a citizen scientist by filling up the online registration form. Every volunteer who registers with this programme is expected to spend at least 15 minutes a day observing birds in a particular area and feeding in data about the commonly seen city birds of India. The various species, the number of individuals and the time of observation have to be noted after every session.
For the benefit of volunteers, a list of 18 such birds has been drawn up and anyone can add to the list depending on their observations. As monitoring has not been done till now, it is very difficult to specifically point out the situation of birds in any area.
“This data will help us study the changes in bird behaviour, habits and choice of environment. With continuous information from a particular place, action towards making places more bird friendly can be taken,” adds Mr. Dilawar.
This is perhaps the first time in India that steps are being taken towards bird monitoring, which will eventually help in conserving the commonly seen birds. With observation records of a few years, a study on bird distribution and changes in the population can be easily done. This study will help devise functional conservation measures for these specific species of birds.
Conservation
“On Sundays children can monitor birds in their locality and help to start data collection which in the long run will help in protecting common birds,” says Ms. Rama Menon, the Local Conservation Leader of NFS from Hyderabad. The NFS has taken steps to protect and rehabilitate sparrows in most cities. Once the needs of other birds are known, steps for their protection can be devised and taken.
For more details, log onto: www.cbmi.in or contact Ms. Rama Menon on 9949019442 or Md. Dilawar on 09420001820.
Look out for:
The 18 species of birds which were once common in all parts of the India are:
Coppersmith barbet
Common hoopoe
White-throated kingfisher
Green bee eater
Greater coucal
Rose ringed parakeet
Rock pigeon
Black kite
Cattle egret
House crow
Black drongo
Indian robin
Common mynah
Barn swallow
Ashy prinia
Red vented bulbul
Purple sunbird
House sparrow
