Let’s Go Back to Nature
Author: Jagat Kinkhabwala
(Sparrow Man)
Nonfiction
“Global Warming, Warning for House Sparrows”
It is common to known that if you do not have birds around, you are not living in a healthy environment.
House Sparrows and Birds are important living beings of the planet with a specific role of theirs to play in balancing the food chain. Insects are a major part of a birds’ feed. During crop season, there is extensive growth of insect population due to favorable conditions, which is essential food for birds and chicks.
At the same time, House Sparrows lay eggs and breed their young ones. They rely on insects and their larva to feed their babies.
Thus, birds keep the multiplication of pest insects under control and help the crop from pest attacks. Control pests, act as pollinators, and maintain island ecology. Birds serve as a source of food and provide fertilizer in agricultural settings. Bird diversity is important for the environment because they help spread seeds, get rid of pests, and control rodent populations. Birds are part of the food chain. They are carnivores. Small birds, in general, eat up insects and their larva. In addition, scavengers get rid of dead animals, which helps keep the environment clean.
Birds keep farmers in business, protect drinking water by preventing erosion, slow the spread of disease, and provide critical environmental data.
Winter is not the breeding season for House sparrows. Studied that at various locations, House Sparrows and other societal birds’, there are reports of nesting in pick of the winter season of December 2024 onwards and from various parts of India. This is a strange behavior. This raised many questions and lead to the thought provoking and scientific study.
In India, the bird-breeding season typically begins mainly in March when temperature starts going up and lasts until June end. Birds perform courtship rituals, construct nests, lay eggs and raise their young during this time. Since breeding ensures the continuation of their species, it is essential for the survival of the bird population.
Presently, Global warming has changed the entire ecological communities. Essential during breeding season, body detox food, protein energizing insects and body vitality food from trees etc., for delivery of chicks, nesting materials from nature that birds depend on, may no longer be there during the winter days. They are available in summer. Birds may face new prey, parasites, competitors, and predators to which they are not adapted to.
This year, winter has started late with temperatures remaining higher than normal winter during the first two winter months of December and January. Daily upper temperature was historically high during December and January, as harsh as mid-summer of April month. At the same time, night temperature were winter chill.
Initially, thought that reported nesting as an exception but as reported from many Sparrow lovers about the nesting at their places, it was difficult to digest and could not understand the strange behavior. The Sparrow lovers were baffled just as me as why breeding in pick of the winter!
Many birds have gone upper level in Dehradun and Himalaya as the temperature has gone higher than normal, which they cannot tolerate hence shifted permanently.
Temperature levels have rose in (3) layers and the study has confirmed it as above. The first layer is mainly pollution and in second level, the temperature is higher than normal hence birds goes up in the upper third level in conducive temperature due to which the whole bird ecosystem, their function and role in nature affected and disrupted with negative impact on all fronts.
Air pollution level has gone up in first level and high temperature in second layers forcing birds and animals to go up.
Inquiry at many locations, it is found that migratory species arrive earlier on their breeding grounds, and that many birds start to lay their eggs earlier in the season in response to higher temperature.
Seasonal breeders are birds and animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food, insects and water availability, and changes in the predation behaviors of other species.
Reproduction involves high energetic and demands for the healthy chicks and with subsequent care of offspring. Temperature is important for reproductive success due to its effect of food availability and energetic demand.
Thus, temperature is going to play greater role in the timing of breeding and reproductive success as temperature is influence-breeding decisions.
This way, winter bleeding are less fed, weighed less, smaller and unhealthy in size resulting in poor survival rates.
As per recent Indian Agriculture Research Institute, due to various reasons, the properties of grains cultivated has gone down by alarming 45%, meaning thereby that everyone get 45% of less properties from the food hence not getting optimum inputs for health, with weak health, to deliver healthy chicks with weak body. When own survival would be difficult, cannot expect healthy new generation hence gradually the numbers will deplete fast.
Typically, the breeding seasons of birds begin when the first new sprouts of green plants and flowers appear after winter. It is happening earlier and earlier as the climate warms. This way the end of the 21st century, spring is likely to arrive about 25 days earlier, with birds breeding earlier. Unfortunately, these shifts are not in line with each other. The vegetation bloom and insect peak occurs even before the young birds hatch.
In light of the increased frequency of heatwaves due to climate change. It is crucial to understand their potential effects on birds’ reproduction.
Heat stress can affect all aspects of reproduction, including gamete development, fertilization success, parental care and offspring survival.
This may result in premature mating messages, which are not conducive season for breeding.
New birth in premature season will result in delivery of weak chicks with health issues, deformation and therefore shorter life. If they survive, their next generations will be further weaker and so on which is a dangerous outcome for the future of bird population that will decline.
All lives like those that humans, wildlife and nature including birds, pollinators, optimum quantity and quality of crops that are dependent on birds will suffer in the due course adversely affecting subsequent life cycles.
One of the major effects of climate change is the loss of habitats. The habitats migratory birds depend on are in danger to change and to disappear due to increasing temperatures, flooding or desertification.
Global warming also influences the routes of many migratory birds and their annual migration rhythm. Many migratory birds change their routes, shorten or completely cancel their journey because of changing temperatures.
This is a natural process. However, the climate change we are experiencing today is different: human-induced global warming is happening at an accelerated speed and it is becoming increasingly difficult for many bird species to keep up with the resulting shifts.
Climate change disrupts precipitation patterns, leading to hydrological regimes of wetlands.
Changes in rainfall intensity and seasonality can result in droughts and or floods affecting water levels. This in turn will influence the distribution vegetation and aquatic species.
Similarly, sea level will rise and affect global temperature increase; glaciers and ice melt and in turn expand oceans to expand. That will affect and damage
This is a big threat and be considered with prime importance while combating the Global Warming. This will affect badly to coastal biodiversity and aquatic life and seawater eco system balance negatively.
This also affects soil composition and destabilize plant, nature, and wildlife.
Email: jagat.kinkhabwala@gmail.com
(m) 98250 51214
Love – Learn – Conserve
