Recently, bulbul fight in Kendrapada district created a lot of hue and cry in the media as well as in public as this was organised by a certain group of people as a part of a winter festival and was witnessed by the locals, including the local MlA with great enthusiasm.
It is during winter that the birds and beasts generally have their breeding time. Winter is also the best time for production and creation. In case of royal carnivore, the female always waits for the mightiest male in the clan to be chosen as partner.
Not only bulbul, there are other birds in the bird community which prepare for a fight to seduce the female birds. Such birds are generally ground birds, which avoid to nest and stay in dense forests for the fear of predatory birds. Such birds are black partridge, painted partridge, grey partridge, common quail (gunduri), rain quail, common grey quail, jungle bush quail, red spur fowl, grey jungle fowl and red jungle fowl etc.
In case of birds in which rough fight is seen are male bulbul, male quail (gunduri) and cock. So the urge to fight is something ingrained in their nature; only human beings, recognizing their fighting nature, use them for fun fight. However, in the end of the fighting, both the birds either severely get wounded or die. The spectators get a great deal of fun to witness the fight even as the game is fatal. The defeated bird is always owned by the owner of the winner bird.
Before the birds are taken for fighting, they are made to starve for one or two days completely as this make the birds hungry and angry. On the fighting yard the two birds are released and a piece of food is thrown before them. The birds are captured from forests through traps and snares. These birds are omnivorous. They eat insects as well as grains.
The fight begins between two birds with much brouhaha but it ends in cruelty as either one or both the birds die. This is sadistic nature of the human beings who enjoy the fight the most while the participants inflict wounds in them and finally kill each other. This is illegal and offensive. No law permits this spectacle of cruelty.
This is not at all accepted on moral and humanitarian grounds also. Those who are party to such mischief should be brought under the purview of law and given exemplary punishment. The Wildlife Act, 1972 should be implemented in true letter and spirit to ban such game.
There are four types of bulbul in our country such as black- headed yellow bulbul, red vented bulbul, white checked bulbul, and red whiskered bulbul. Black – headed yellow bulbul is now available only in Odisha, undivided Andhra Pradesh and undivided Madhya Pradesh.
This species is on verge of extinction due to loss of habitat. Use of insecticides in the garden plants has been one of the major reasons of their death. The bulbul is a garden bird, which is always seen during morning hours and evening hours in a playful dancing mood. This is quite unharmful.
The population of the bird species has also got greatly reduced due to loss of nesting grounds especially within the urban areas. The State Government should declare this species as ‘endangered’. This species always nests on the bushes; so some areas covered with bushes and shrubs should be left within urban areas for protection and promotion of the ground birds.
Unfortunately while there is great clamour for tree loss, nobody is concerned about protection of bushes and shrubs. These are also highly important as they provide shelter to a large number of birds and tiny animals. The bird ‘Gharachatia’ (house sparrow) is one of the ground birds, which stays either in bushes or in the roofs of houses.
Now the bushes are getting destroyed fast while thatched houses are fast getting converted in to pucca or concrete buildings. So this bird has no place to live. As a result, its survival is at a stake. The bulbul is a unique bird and also likes to live in pair. There is always better conjugal life among bulbuls; the call of bulbul is also very pleasant and lends a beautiful aura to a garden or bushy surrounding. The nesting season of bulbul is from January to June.
Man is directly and indirectly benefited by the land birds, which stay within the home vicinity. They eat harmful insects of the surroundings including mosquitoes. The garden plants are protected by these birds. Besides, they also carry out disposal of seeds of shrubs and middle size trees.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)
