Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Apr 17: Normally, unless they are caged or meet with an accident, birds rarely die in populous areas. However, of late, carcasses of dead birds including crows and pigeons are being sighted in front of closed shops by the side of the road both in the city and Udupi. Even though there is no official confirmation as yet, many suspect that the birds are dying of hunger as they are not getting enough food to survive.

Birds living in urban areas normally do not migrate to other areas. They scout for food inside the urban territory and consume whatever they can find. One theory is that the birds may not be getting enough water and food since the last some days because of lockdown. Henry Donald Lasrado, assistant director of animal husbandry department, Bantwal, opines that the birds might have been suffering from weakness due to lack of water and food and when flying they would have fallen down and died due to the impact of the fall on hard objects like roads and boulders.

Several dead birds were seen in State Bank area in the city. The birds were getting food on account sale of fruits, vegetables, eatables etc by push carts. All these have disappeared after the lockdown. Suma Nayak of Animal Care Trust, supported the notion that the birds might have died due to hunger. She noted that sometimes hawks attack smaller birds for food and that the trust has received a number of sick parrots, pigeons, crows, bulbul etc since the last some days.

In Landlinks area, monkeys too are seen. They as well as the birds on trees apparently suffer because of insufficient food. As fishing activity has come to a standstill, the birds are not getting fish and this has given rise to food shortage for birds, a bird lover, Tauseef stated.

Veterinarian Dr Vasant Kumar, noted that the birds which are accustomed to a particular area cannot adjust even if they go to other areas seeking food after food availability in their area is hampered by lockdown. In such cases, they may die because of food shortage, he noted. This notion was also echoed by environmentalist Dinesh Holla and some others, who noted that in some areas, shop keepers used to set out food and water for birds but this is not happening now.