I sometimes wonder, what would have been the fate of our beautiful earth if there were no birds. Most of us can not even imagine how this planet would look like without these flying beauties.
But let us give it a thought..........
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| Alexandrine parakeet |
To understand it first of all we need to understand the behaviour and activities of the birds.The birds are perhaps the creatures with one of the fastest metabolic rates,which is why we see them eating all the times.Many birds can eat food equivalent to half their body weight everyday,and many can even eat more than their body weight.
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| Oriental Magpie Robin |
One must take time to enjoy the beautiful sight of birds feeding their young ones.It is really amazing to see them returning back to their nest with food about 1000 times every day.These birds therefore eat thousands of insects, worms, beetles, moths, caterpillars and rodents most of which have a tendency to multiply at a very fast pace. A single pair of some insects if unchecked can multiply to billions in a very short span of time.
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| Oriental Magpie Robin in its Perfect pose |
Although these insects feeding on grasses,roots,tubers and green leaves have their own role to play,but in the absence of birds they can play havoc. If they multiply unchecked then the whole earth would be devoid of grasses, leaves and plants. Therefore mother nature has created these flying beauties for maintaining this delicate balance.
I have heard a story from early sixties when in parts of China it was thought that the birds are the enemies of the farmers/crops and killing of birds took place on a massive scale. But then in the absence of their natural predators the insects multiplied to such an extent that they carpeted the entire fields, thereby resulting in famine.
So if there were no birds, there would have been no grasses,no leaves, no plants,no crops,no oxygen and no life perhaps!!!!!!!!!!
