Why are Indians Killing Migratory Birds?

Migratory Birds are a kind of species, that migrates or moves from one location to another to find a warmer place to live, breed, feed, avoid extreme weather and predators. These migratory birds are the essence of our ecosystem and used to constitute a great proportion in the early years in India. These migratory birds unfortunately are dying in large numbers which causes a great threat to the ecosystem of our country.

India consists of several types of migratory birds including Siberian Cranes, Greater Flamingo, Amur Falcon, Demoiselle Crane, Black Winged Stilt, Blue-tailed Bee-Eater, Bluethroat, Rosy Starling, Bar-headed Goose, Great White Pelican, and many more.

What Led to the Death of Migratory Birds?

The migratory Birds' death rate in India has increased horribly. As per some reports of 2019 almost 18000 migratory birds died in a single day and 90,000 birds died in Punjab in 2021. This news made quite a few headlines in the media. This increasingly horrifying death rate is a result of climate change, an excessive rise in extreme weather conditions, Avian flu (a viral infection that spreads among different species of birds), starvation, dehydration, an excessive amount of salt in saltwater lakes, and also due to communication towers.

Most deaths are associated with Avian Botulism. Avian is a paralytic disease caused by Bacterium Clostridium botulinum C, type C causes waterfowl deaths. This affects wild, captive birds. The death of migratory birds has become the concern of many ecologists and conservationists in India, these mortality rates are increasing every day and we are to blame for this, as climate change has led migratory birds to search for a habitable place to live but extreme conditions have made most places they migrate to, and unhabitable place to live.

Why Do We Need to Conserve Migratory Birds?

Migratory birds are an essential part of the environment and their deaths are the direct result of the atrocities humans are doing in the name of development, causing climate change and making the ecosystem suffer. These birds are also dying due to hunting and it makes it harder for the country to conserve as they do not work with other countries to collaborate for conserving migratory birds.

Ways to Conserve Migratory Birds

At the national level, the government and conservationists are doing their work, but at an individual level, we can work to protect and conserve migratory birds.

• Providing a safe space for birds to receive shelter, food, and water outside the house or in the garden or balcony is a significant step to help birds at ease.

• Don't let the water in the feeder for too long as mosquitoes can breed, rather change the water every day for the birds to drink.

• Reducing carbon footprint can lead to a decrease in the mortality rate of migratory birds as climate change would decrease and so will extreme weather conditions. This can be done by sourcing energy from renewable resources.

• Avoiding pesticides is a significant step as the poisonous content may not affect the birds directly but can pollute waterways, causing a threat to birds.

• Keep your windows birds friendly to prevent the birds from crashing into the windows.

Conclusion:

The population of migratory birds is decreasing every day, making them move forward to the list of endangered species. If the right measures and steps are not taken at the individual, group, and government level, it could lead them to endangered species.

These birds are a part of India's diversified culture. Hence, it is our responsibility to save them from the danger that we caused.

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