A bird sanctuary in the middle of the city

Mid-day.com: Dr Satyasheel Naik, an orthopaedic surgeon has created a sanctuary for birds right here in Pune and has succeeded in attracting more than 40 species of birds with artificial nesting. He is a bird watcher with a difference.

Naik’s love for birds began when he was just eight. So, when he shifted to his bungalow in the Cantonment area a decade ago from his residence in the heart of the city, he was upset that birds never settled in the trees in his garden. To draw them to his garden he started constructing artificial birdhouses in the trees.

“I put up a few earthen pots to attract the birds, but I observed that big birds like the Grey Horn Bill were driving away smaller ones from their nesting places.

So, I decided to hang specially prepared wooden boxes with holes of precise diameters for different birds. Later, I also started using empty diesel cans and jerry cans with holes for the use of the birds,” said Naik. A pond in his courtyard makes his bungalow an even more attractive nesting place for birds.

Naik, who considers bird watching a great stress reliever, added that there is a huge rush of birds in his garden in March, which is the mating season for most birds.

“The birds taught us to build houses, I am just trying to give it back to them,” he concluded.

Naik loves pigeons the most, because they never forget their original habitat.

Almost 16 species of birds, including Grey Horn Bill, Common Mayna, Jungle Mayna, Red Vented Bulbul, Red Whiskered Bulbul, Copper Smith, Green Bee Eater, Drongo, Common Wabler, Common Crow, Jungle Crow, Magpie Robin, Blue Rock Pigeon, Grey Tit, Flawrack Kite and geese are there. Almost 40 parrots use the artificial nests on a regular basis and migratory birds like flamingos also visit his garden.

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Also see:

• November 3, 2009 -- Residents clip wings of bird thieves (0)
• September 10, 2009 -- CME lakes become a natural ecosystem for a variety of birds (0)
• August 31, 2009 -- City surgeon invited to SAARC conference (0)
• June 4, 2009 -- Katraj lake plays host to rare birds (0)
• May 11, 2009 -- Pune to become the third Indian city to boast of a reptile sanctuary (0)