Missing in Action

While Im happy to say that I had around 20 sparrows enjoying a breakfast of bajra in the garden this morning (I live in green Civil Lines),there are ominous signs: A years monitoring of the gardens of Teen Murti Bhavan in lush Lutyens Delhi,produced 60-odd species but not a single sparrow. While there have been sparrows in the garden at home,they havent nested in my balcony for years now,depriving me of the comic soap-opera histrionics that usually occur in sparrow family life. Several theories have been thrown up to explain their disappearance,ranging from inhospitable modern architecture (not applicable for places like Teen Murti House),to pollution to waves emitted by cell phone towers to pesticides,which kill off the caterpillars on which baby sparrows are raised.

A whole flock of white-throated (and the occasional red and scaly-breasted) munias used to arrive at a neighbours garden and feed on the fare provided. The neighbors left,the feeding stopped and the birds have gone.

The shrill alarm-clock like call of the common babbler used to get my dog very excited. This speckled brown bird that seems to prefer hopping and running to flying,is another one that has disappeared. As has the large grey babbler,a cousin of the jungle babbler (still happily found in plenty) that used to skulk in secretive groups at the bottom of the garden hedge shrieking kay-kay-kay like rusted machinery gone mad. While both the jungle and large grey babblers have more or less the same diet,they are said to prefer slightly different habitats,though both were seen in the same locality,and now one has vanished. But I was happy to meet them again at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park,as insane as they ever were.

Certainly the most beautiful bird that seems to have gone missing from this area is the paradise flycatcher. There was a time,when they could be seen in March and April,in full regalia flaunting their stuff around the scummy ponds of the Northern Ridge. Then,that stopped and now they only appeared,subdued and seemingly depressed in July and August. Theyd bred somewhere,for the males had dropped their 18-inch satin tails and appeared misanthropic. But now,I havent noticed even these in the Ridge for at least three years.

Some disappearances are easy to explain. At one time,the resplendent common kingfisher was almost a sure bet around these same ponds. With high-pitched squeaks,theyd streak across the water like sapphire tracers. These little jewels like their fish,which meant these ponds had the fish to sustain them. When the fish died out the birds vanished. Their larger cousin the,white-throated kingfisher,is still around because it has a more eclectic diet,including lizards,frogs and large insects.

The first time that the magnificent crested serpent eagle appeared in the Nicholson Cemetery (old Delhi) was a Wow! moment,accompanied as it was by much raucous cawing of crows and hysteria by the monkeys who lived here. But then I noticed that I could expect the bird to turn up at the cemetery every year in September or October. It would shatter the equilibrium of the crows and monkeys,glower and scream at them and then disappear after two or three days. One year,the monkeys even succeeded in bringing down a juvenile in the driveway. (The poor bird died.) It seemed that the eagles used the cemetery as a transit halt on their way. They used to be spotted on the Northern Ridge also at this time. But again for the last so many years,the bird hasnt shown up. Its disquieting.

Of the tiny-tot winter migrants that I could be sure to meet every year,two that have suddenly become sparse are the black redstart and the white wagtail. The black restart sat on the garden gate regularly and could be seen quite frequently at the Ridge where they had marked distinct territories. The white wagtail was a sure shot on the lawns,strutting around with the self-satisfied air of a zamindar. But not any longer.

Another species Im wondering about is the round-headed,spotted owlet,an old favourite (especially since one spent a day on the lilac bush outside my bedroom window and let me approach within a few feet). I havent heard their querulous shrieking from the cemetery for quite a while now,nor have I seen them.

Birding has fortunately become quite popular in the last few years. So there are many more keen eyes out there,watching,keeping track and reporting. Unfortunately,the list of birds Missing in Action can only get depressingly longer as we continue to destroy their habitats,cut off their food supplies and generally be destructive in the way only we can. There have been horrifying reports even from the hills,not only of species vanishing,but of bird populations plummeting. It would be good to remember the fate of the Passenger pigeon once found in plenty now gone. And once theyre gone completely,theres no coming back.

I trawled the Net asking for information on MIA birds in other cities. Unfortunately,the responses I got were mainly from Delhi and the northern region and I guess whats good for the goose is good for the gander. It was like opening Pandoras box: nightjars have gone from the JNU campus,rock chats from Nizamuddin,hoopoes and bayas from Noida,apparently even crows from Hisar. What was worse was that when the lists came up,there were birds (like the red-collared dove and brown rock chat) that I now do remember seeing too,but had forgotten about over the years. Time erases memories and there lies the danger.

We may never know the exact reason why a species suddenly (or slowly) goes missing. But we can be almost be sure that itll be because we poisoned the air or water,introduced a deadly chemical (deliberately or accidentally) or spilled gigantic amounts of oil.

But were not that stupid: we also know how to turn devastated wastelands back into Eden to bring back those missing in action. The choice is ours.