The delayed death sentence on a rain tree that spreads a green leafy umbrella over the sides of the national highway at Cherkala, a small town in Kasaragod, has demonstrated how the bird tragedy at V K Pady near Edavanna in Malappuram on August 31 could have been averted.
On September 5, the Kasaragod Social Forestry wing convinced the road contractors to put off the cutting of the tree by at least 25 days. By then, it was felt the chicks will be old enough to fly.
Unlike in Malappuram, the contractor in Kasaragod (Megha Constructions) called up the Social Forestry deputy conservator, P Dhanesh Kumar, before the scheduled felling of the tree. It was mandatory they inform the Social Forestry wing.
Kasaragod Birders' Club had drawn up a list of nesting trees, and this one at Cherkkala junction was one of them. Therefore, it was already known that the tree, marked for felling to make way for NH widening, had 18 nests of Indian pond heron (kulakokku) and 10 little cormorant (neerkakka) nests. In other words, there were 28 families of water birds with their chicks on the tree.
Though the Forest Department had granted permission to fell the tree, the contractor still had to inform the Social Forestry wing before they cut it down as it was a nesting tree. Dhanesh, an officer who had won the prestigious Sanctuary Nature Foundation prize for his courageous attempts to protect forests and wildlife, put his foot down.
"I told them if anything happens to the birds, a case would be registered under the Wildlife Protection Act," Dhanesh said. Indian pond heron and little cormorant come under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act. Schedule IV species are not endangered but any harm to them could invite a jail term of up to three years and a fine.
The contractor had his compulsions. He had to finish the work on schedule. "But these people seemed very understanding and they offered to relocate the nests to a safe place. So I asked them to talk to Raju Kidoor of Kasaragod Birders' Club," Dhanesh said.
Kidoor, a school teacher by profession, told them that shifting would only kill the chicks. He asked the contractor to wait for 25 days. "Normally, a chick takes 30-45 days before it could independently fly. We have been observing this tree since July and we know that the youngest of these chicks will reach the juvenile stage, the point when the little ones can strike out on their own, in about 20 days. So we asked them to wait for 25 days, and they agreed," Raju Kidoor said.
"The huge public outrage after the Malappuram incident,which killed over 100 birds including nestlings, could also have played a part," he added.
The decision to wait till the chicks could fly was taken on September 5, Monday.
Bird commune
Each of the 18 Indian pond heron nests on the Cherkkala rain tree could have two to three chicks; therefore, the total number of Indian pond heron chicks on the tree could be between 40 and 50. In the 10 little cormorant nests, there would generally be three chicks each. Meaning, there would be 30 little cormorant chicks. The total number of chicks on the tree could be between 70 and 80. Then, there are 28 pairs of parents, a total of 56 adult birds.
When water birds like herons, cormorants and egrets zero in on a tree for nesting, it is food availability that will prompt them to make the choice. "It is small fishes their chicks consume. We have found that the adult birds pick trees near a fish market mostly, or near a small stream or pond where there is a sumptuous presence of fish," Kidoor said.
The tree at Cherkala, for instance, has a fish market nearby.
These water birds also adhere to certain construction rules. "When they create a nest on a branch they make sure that there are free branches on top and below, a kind of courtyard and backyard for their chicks. An adult pair respects the boundaries set by the others," Raju said.
