Inviting Birds of All Feathers

What We Must Do for the Birds. Urbanization poses a major threat to bird diversity. Preeti Mehra tells us about a study backed by Azim Premji University that suggests ways to help combat it.

- Preeti Mehra

Last year on March 20, World Sparrow Day, we received the good news that the house sparrow which had disappeared for many years was back in the Delhi-NCR region. Many bird watchers said they were now seeing the bird in areas from where it had gone missing. How and why had the sparrow gone missing? Ornithologists say the bird was never in extinction, but due to increased urbanization its natural habitats had got destroyed. Without sufficient nesting spaces and a decrease in food material, sparrows deserted the urban environs. But now with green cover improving in Delhi, they can be seen in select areas.

A recent research paper, ‘Which Traits Influence Bird Survival in the City?’ precisely probes this question. In the study four scientists, Swaroop Patankar, Ravi Jambhekar, Kulbhushansingh Ramesh Suryawanshi, and Harini Nagendra, with backing from the Azim Premji University, explore how bird diversity can be maintained in urban environs. They also review previous research undertaken on the subject between 1978 and 2020. The study is an aggregated one, based on five groups of traits seen in birds—ecological traits, life history, physiology, behaviour, and genetic traits. The findings could help city administrations in their quest to maintain adequate biodiversity.

It has been seen that the urban bird community is dominated by generalist species, while specialist species are declining. This is attributed to the lack of specific food and shelter resources for them. Urban birds have also been noticed to have different behaviour traits from their rural counterparts. They show an increase in song frequency and amplitude and bolder behaviour.