Waking up to the sound of birds is unusual for many of us, but for Vishwanath Hegga and his family, it is a daily occurrence. It’s easy to locate Dr. Hegga’s house in this thickly populated locality of Kalaburagi city; all one has to do is follow the twitter of avians.
Dr. Hegga is a veterinary surgeon at Harsoor village in the district. His house resounds with the humming of birds from different countries that have now become a part of his life. Speaking to The Hindu here last week, the 39-year-old aviculturist says he has nurtured cockatiels (a native of Australia), turacos (found in southern Africa), and parakeets including Blue gold macaws (a native of South America), Blue-cheeked conures (Brazil), the New Zealand Kaka, Gouldian finch, Holland budgies, Custard budgies, Long-tailed finches and Star finches from Australia, Java sparrow and Java finches from Indonesia, African lovebirds, African Grey congo, Sun conure, and Pineapple found in South America, and Nanday conure of Brazil and northern Argentina.
His cost of his collection ranges from ₹300 to ₹1.5 lakh; the Blue gold macaw costs up to ₹1.5 lakh while the lovebirds start from ₹300 each. The bird lover spends about ₹12,000 a month on taking care of these avian wonders.
“My interest in them blossomed and droveme crazy during my study tour and internship in 2000. Then I started visiting aviculturists in various States, and over the past 18 years my collection of birds has swelled to more than 450 rare avians of 29 varieties from across the world,” Dr. Hegga says.
Terrace home
He has converted his terrace into a bird enclosure. The task of tending to the birds begins at sunrise. Before leaving for work, Dr. Hegga feeds the birds and attends to their needs. In his absence, his family takes care of them.
“The foremost responsibility is to create a safe, stimulating environment that keeps the avian cool and promotes its mental well-being. Besides establishing a terrace garden, I have also installed air coolers, sprinklers, and foggers to take special care of the birds so that they can sustain themselves if the temperature increases,” he says. According to him, the birds are provided special diets that include almonds, fruits, millet, pulses, and vegetables including green leaves.
“In the future, I will add more varieties to my collection. I am also planning to transform the terrace into a mini-bird sanctuary.” he says.
