Crowing for a cleaner Bangalore?

Crowing for a cleaner Bangalore?
Wednesday January 16 2008 07:52 IST

Bosky Khanna

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BANGALORE: It’s time to change the superstition that spotting a raven is a bad omen and thank them instead for rendering free service to society.

House crows (Corvus macrorhynchos) and jungle crows (Corvus splendenn) are doing the task of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).

These scavengers keep the City and parks like Lalbagh and Cubbon Park clean. Their easy adaptability and omnivorous nature has increased their population, yet kept them close to man.

Ornithologists say the rapid rise in crow population is directly linked to a lack of civic sense among the growing human population in the city. Crows thrive largely on eatables thrown by people.

They breed profusely and help in maintaining the City’s green tag. “So far no census has been conducted to know their population, but their population has considerably increased in green belts as they build nests on trees to feed their young ones.

They breed during January and June,’’ said bio-diversity expert Harish Bhat. On the same lines, the population of Blue Rock Pigeons (Columbia livia) has increased two-fold, thanks to the increasing high-rise buildings.

They are cliff ledge nesting birds. They breed throughout the year and anywhere, including ventilators and windows. They easily adapt to the matchbox culture of high-rise buildings in the City.

“These vegetarian birds feed on leftover grains and in some cases fly up to 25 km in search of food. Pigeons build nests with little available resources like hay, wires and rod pieces. Crows and pigeons are social birds and easily adapt to changing times.

Unlike crows, pigeons do not play a vital role in helping society, but are friendly creatures,’’ said city-based ornithologist M B Krishna. Crows have reduced in numbers in places with commercial influx like Gandhi Bazaar or Jayanagar. Krishna pointed out.