Birds of nature

Nature reflects itself in various forms; sometimes it properly clads the silvery dress of snow, sometimes the running rivers and streams with their crystal clear water reveal its innocent beauty. At other times, it smiles confronting man as beautiful flowers, and sometimes as birds with untold beauty and fascination of their scheme of colors which snatches words from pen and man’s power of discourse. Birds are a source of love and beauty and are a way to pay a humble tribute on the part of man to his Lord, for His mastery and skill, which is the slightest manifestation of His genius. What are like these birds when twitter look singing the praise of the Almighty at breaking dawn. The dusk also reflect their chirping and the atmosphere fills with pure passions and lofty sacredness.

Birds have emotions like humans and they express it in their own way. It is observed that when they are in furious mood they strike their head or beak against the cage repeatedly. The cocktail parrot is found understanding the phrases uttered by his owner while teaching the pet. Every time the owner repeated the phrase, the bird shook his head as he is absorbing what the owner is saying.

Birds try to impress the opposite sex to fulfill nature’s basic purpose of reproduction. They are choosy in this regard whether male or female. Female birds are found choosing their mates and then allow them to mate. The Blue Bird in Southern US looks very beautiful with blue color from head to tail with slight whitish tinge and red-brown breast. In the breeding season, while building the nest, he perches and flutters his wings to impress and attract the opposite sex. When a female bird agrees for courtship, she takes hold of building nest. In a compound where hens are gathered, cocks walk stoutly keeping their breast up. The hens choose their mate and allow mating.

The impressing and unique aspect of the birds is that they are mostly monogamy in their nature. They spend their whole life with one life partner. However, it is not a fixed rule, as polygamy also exists in birds. In some species, when the female birds finds a male bird alone, sings sweet songs to attract him. On hearing, male bird also responds to her song but when his own life partner listens, she loudly screams or produces sound so that the voice of stranger female could not be heard by the male. It is the sense of jealousy, which is seen among the birds. The female birds build nests before the breeding season. This activity resembles to humans largely. She remains near her nest, lays and hatches eggs. The newly hatched baby birds are given insects, ants, mosquitoes, beetles and other organisms as food by their parents. Macaw (a species of parrot) gets off white coloring around his eyes those later changes to orange. It is not a disease but a sign of adulthood.

The birds affect and are affected by the environment by catching and ultimately eating the insects. They eat the insects and do not allow the insects to be overpopulated and then damage the crops and other biodiversity. Thus, they play a role in biological life cycles. The insecticides contaminate and pollute the land, when birds sit and eat they get poisonous effects and the result is sometimes infertility, thin eggshells, and unhealthy offspring. The birds have become the means of transporting seeds from one place to other for many plants, because they eat fruits from the trees and often take them miles away by the feet. They also help pollination in plants by taking pollens from one plant and dropping them on the other.

Birds also undergo migration from the regions where resources are declining to the areas where means of living are in abundance. These migrations may consist of long as well as short distances. Sometimes they come down from altitude, but often, they have to travel for thousands of miles to move to the new destination. When circumstances become favorable, they move back to their place of origin. Migrations always occur in groups. Many species are facing great danger of extinction from the face of the earth. Some species are so rare that they can be counted on fingers. Some of the reasons of their extinction are:

·         Unlawful hunting of birds.

·         Annual migrations cause decrease in the numbers of birds

·         Destruction of habitats due to environmental changes

·         The cyclones, floods, strong wind storms.     

·         Global warming

·         Use of pesticide especially DDT on crops.

·         Unavailability of proper food.

According to a research of Duke University, 500 species of birds have vanished from the face of the earth in last 5000 years. The 21^st century is the most dangerous time for these creatures because harmful activities by humans are going beyond limits. It is predicted that 1200 more species will meet their fate in 21 century despite many precautionary measures.

The birds are an essential part of nature, which can never be neglected. Keeping birds is also an industry; the nations that spend on research get millions from these beautiful agents of nature. The large zoos across the world invite people to have a view of their natural beauty. We must confine our activities that cause harm to birds, and give them a better environment because they are equally entitled to breathe in this atmosphere as we humans are.