For many, living in urban dwellings, waking up to the chirping and tweeting sounds of native birds remains etched into their memory.
Once frequently sighted in the coastal town, the Coppersmith Barbet, Oriental-Magpie Robin and Indian Roller are now confined to forested-landscapes such as the Oussudu Lake, Pitchandikulam and the Auroville bio-region.
In a concerted effort to bring back the native birds, Puducherry-based Indigenous Biodiversity Foundation (IBF) in association with The Living Earth (a sustainable and responsible organisation for the conservation of the local biodiversity) has started “Let’s Save Our Native Birds” project to offer an alternate habitat for the birds by distributing customised nest boxes at areas once frequented by the birds.
According to K. Raman, founder of IBF, an initiative was launched two years back to conserve the population of the House Sparrow.
“As part of the programme, around 500 specially designed nests for sparrows were distributed to school children. The initiative spearheaded by a core team of naturalists comprising S. Vimalraj, Prabhu N.Ponmudi, Ratheesh Narayanan and S. Kishore Kumar is now reaping its success.
This was the turning point and we decided to launch a similar conservation programme for the native birds that were once commonly sighted at the backyard of houses,” he said.
The customised nest boxes - pipe-shaped for barbets, outdoor tree box with access panels for Barn owls and open-fronted boxes for robins are made from recycled wood abandoned by factories.
The nest boxes are priced from ₹450 to ₹1,700, Mr. Raman said, claiming that a portion of the amount from each box would be used for planting a native tree species that the birds generally reside.
According to S. Vimalraj, these native bird species were once seen everywhere. However, in the last few decades, their population has been on the decline and they have been confined to only a few areas.
“Rampant urbanisation and destruction of habitats has led to displacement of several species. The native species have co-existed with us and it is important to conserve them and bring them back to their habitats,” he said.
Heritage buildings in the boulevard which originally had backyard gardens have now made way for high-rises and multi-storey apartments. The concept of backyard gardens should be revived to attract birds to homes, he said.
According to Subish Sebastian, founder of The Living Earth, “Urbanisation without ecological consciousness is driving species from their habitat which can lead to local extinction of species. Therefore, this initiative intends to revive the native population with the support of local communities.
This will not only help in creating awareness but will also bring the communities as the local heros of Conservation. The main intention is to educate the people to co exist with the biodiversity around us.”
The Living Earth will support the activities of IBF to boost the population of the native species.
“We are planning to distribute the nesting boxes to homestays and also for others interested in preserving the rich biodiversity”, he says.
