Bird Suicide Grounds of Jatinga, India
Jatinga is a small village located
in Assam, a state in northeastern India, Commonly known as valley of death for
birds.
that small village of Jatinga in
north of India seems like any other quiet, isolated village in the world except
for one reason…every year around the months of September and October hundreds
of birds dive to their deaths within its city limits.
During these late monsoon months,
several migratory and local birds commit mass suicide at the village.
Just after sunset, between 7 and 10
pm, hundreds of birds descend from the sky, plummeting to their deaths by
crashing into buildings and trees.
Locals believed that evil spirits
living in the skies were responsible for bringing down the birds, but that
isn’t true.
Various studies have been conducted
to unravel the causes behind this phenomenon. The record maintained show
that 44 species have been attracted to the light sources. It has been
established that the birds are not attracted to the entire Jatinga Ridge but
only to a well-defined strip, 1.5 km long and 200 metres wide. Invariably the
birds come in only from the north and attempts at placing the lights on the
southern side of the ridge to attract the birds have failed. Another
interesting fact has been brought out is that no long distance migratory bird
gets attracted to the light traps. The victims are resident birds of the
adjacent valleys and hill slopes.
Wildlife and bird societies in
India have gone to the village to educate them about the phenomenon in an
attempt to stop the mass killings of the birds. Since then bird deaths have
decreased by forty percent. Government officials in Assam are hoping to use the
phenomenon to attract tourists to the small city, and some work has gone into
creating accommodations for visitors in Jatinga.
Jatinga is not the only place in
the world where such weird behaviour of birds is noticed. This phenomenon is
also seen in Philippines, Malaysia and another state of India Mizoram.