Green Munia: Protection by locals
Prakash Mehra, South Asia Chapter Coordinator of the Ecoblogs
“Chalat musafir moh liya re, pinjare wali munia” (eye catching cage bird, Munia, attracts any travelers) a melodious song of Hindi movie “Teesri Kasam” is well known to most of the Indians especially elderly group. The essence of this song is lesser known among the modern generation. But the real fact is that how many people have seen the bird which has been described in the song and praised for its attractiveness? A small group of researchers and youngsters used the song and revived the age-old Indian practices of folklore to touch the sentiments of people.
This is a beautiful tiny little bird – Munia or Avadavat. It is popular as member of “Finch” family among global community. Interestingly, one of the species of small finches seen by Europeans in Ahmadabad was termed as “Ahmadabad Birds” which later on misspelled and gave origin to its existing name – “avadavat”. Seven species of munias are found in the Indian subcontinent. All of these species are beautiful but the beauty of Green Munia is something which strikes a thought in mind of lyricist to write a song or a painter to prepare a painting.
Small, slim passerine with a short, stout, conical beak, a bird of about 10-11 cm, olive green in coloration camouflaging with the green vegetation, too difficult to detect in wild but could be seen easily in the cages in bird trade market at several places in India. The pale yellow throat, breast and center of belly along with the Zebra-like lining on flanks and red bill magnetize the sight of any human to look towards this wonderful fascinating bird -Green Munia, also known as Green Avadavat. Scientifically, the name was changed several times viz., Stictospiza formosa to Estrilda formosa but now it is Amandava formosa. Green Munia is endemic to India where it is distributed locally from Sirohi (Rajasthan) to Hazaribagh (Bihar) in the east form the northern line and western limits of Khandesh (Maharastra) to Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) form the southern line.
How painful it is that the bird which was once abundant in India is no more to see commonly anymore. It blows the mind of average Indian when they come to know that the bird is endemic to India. Nowhere else this species could be seen in the world. The eye catching beauty of this bird has created a major cause of caging this bird. Some literature state that during trapping large proportion (it may be more then 90%) of the individuals die due the psychological shock. Besides trapping, loss of habitats preferred by the bird is another factor causing decline in their population.
Green Munia is listed as globally threatened bird categorized as “Vulnerable” in the C1 and C2a categories (C1 = continuing decline in population, C2a = severe fragmentation) by BirdLife International classification. The Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 lists this species in Schedule IV, whereby hunting and trapping of this species is totally prohibited.
To know more about this bird: The bird lives in flocks in which the number of individual varies. While feeding on the ground, the large flock get dispersed forming smaller flocks. The broad range of regenerating and open habitats is utilized by this species. But the habitat structure of bird mainly comprises of the tall grasses with the agricultural fields and dense bushes. The food preferred by the species is the soft herbage, seeds and other types of soft parts of plants. Song is weak, high-pitched warble whereas calls include a weak, twittering ‘seee’ or ‘swee swee’ as well as ‘cheep’ and ‘chirp’. They generally produce calls during flights and when separated from the flock or its partner. The breeding records of the species are from May to January but breeding and nesting ecology of the birds are yet to be study in detail. The cup shaped nest could be seen in between the tall grasses or sugarcane. Clutch size is usually 5-6 eggs at a time. Green Munia does not shows long distanced migration. Local movement from open land to dense bushy area in the winters was observed.
Protection by community: In the southern tracts of Aravalli hills (Rajasthan, India), once Green Munia was abundant and commonly sighted bird which is now a rarity. Only a few of the pockets of this area harbor this little beauty. A team of researchers conducted surveys to assess the status and distribution along with the causes for its local extinction. Emphasis was being laid on the protection of the habitats with the community conservation program. A team of interested youth was identified. Local youngsters were trained and engaged in birding. With the pace of time, the local team could able to convince the local habitation to step ahead in providing safeguard to the feeding grounds. The commitment of the researchers and the local team brought a great change in the mindsets of the people. Moreover, realizing the importance of the species, the local population stepped ahead with informal conservation programs. When the author and his team started the work, the number of individuals was under four hundred (2004-05). The last hope of its survival was depending on the protection of the breeding and feeding grounds. The involvement of the local people, brought a great change and today (2012-13), the number accounted over thousand. This solved a purpose in two ways; the local youth got engaged in conservation programs along with their livelihood.
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