Hyderabad, January 15: Colourful kites taking over the sky during Sankranthi often means loss of home, wings and life for birds. Pigeons are the worst-hit by manja injuries each year, with a couple of pigeons reported to have been injured on Friday.
With bird injuries expected to go up on Saturday, the effect of entangled manja on trees and the trauma due to injury is long-lasting. Last year, bird rescue organisations were reported to have treated as many as 150-200 birds on the two days of Makar Sankranthi.
There are a host of city NGOs which rescue injured birds. With celebrations catching momentum, the numbers can go up drastically.
“With the prevailing confusion of the exact date of Makar Sankranthi, there have been very few kites in the sky. As a result, we had fewer calls on our helplines.
We received around 25 calls and rescued four pigeons on Friday,” said Mahesh Agarwal, general secret
ary, Sahyog. Last year birds like pigeons, crows, parakeets and a few vultures were rescued.
According to these NGOs, pigeons remain most susceptible to injuries due to their proximity to human dwellings. Again, most nesting birds lose their nests due to kites and manja completely taking over the trees.
Awareness among kite fliers remains sparse. “The trauma that the birds experience due to sudden overtaking of their natural homes send them in a state of shock, much longer than we imagine,” explains a bird rescue worker, P Shravan. By the time, birds start retuning to the trees, a considerable time is lost in the lives of the winged wonders.
–Agencies