Delhi’s love affair with the pigeon continues. As the trend of feeding the birds at crossings, chowks and flyover pavements soars, it leaves enthusiasts slightly unnerved at the prospect of an increasing avian population the city is ill-equipped to cope with. Says Mohammad Dilawar, “The increasing pigeon population is not good for Delhi’s ecology.” On the other hand is the sport of pigeon flying, the Muhgal legacy of Agra that came to Shahajanabad and remained there. Pigeon races from the roof top, Delhi style, can be spotted in Matia Mahal, Haveli Azam Khan and Nizamuddin. Winters are about sending the pigeon for “round trips” in the sky.
Parroting Their Cause
The rose-ringed parakeet is quite a heritage lover. The bird cosily nests all over Lutyens’ Delhi, and in crevices of monuments, gardens and tombs of Delhi. Apart from the green areas in and around, you would find parakeets nesting in abundance at Humayun’s Tomb, Safdurjung Tomb, Old Fort and the heritage buildings in the Lodhi Garden complex where it burnishes the dusk in summer and sun-bathed winter mornings and afternoons with colour. The male and the female can be identified by the colour of their necks. The female’s is green while the male’s is pink. It is the most poached species in India; a recent report suggested that parrots make up 50 per cent of the total illegal bird trade in India.
A Fading Bird Song
It’s the common man’s bird. It is also Delhi’s state bird. But Delhi’s increasing pollution and looming mobile phone towers have collaborated to make the chirpy sparrow a rare sight. According to Mohammad Dilawar, the bird conservationist who was instrumental in getting the sparrow the status of Delhi’s state bird, former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit who supported the conservation of the sparrow wholeheartedly rued the fact that there weren’t enough of the birds at her official residence. The first World Sparrow Day was celebrated on March 20, 2010. Get a bird feed, now.