Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Stylish houses n killer windows…!!


This beautiful Small Blue Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) died after crashing on a window

Birds collide on windows like this which are reflecting the landscapes

Glass was an amazing invention which is now an essential part of daily life of human beings. Mirrors, specs, pots, screens, lights, windows n blah blah blah…; for lots n lots of things we use glass. None of the civilized person spends his/her day without looking at some glass material. Mirrors got the most important value in human life but use of glass for windows is taking noticeably big place in glass industry. Use of glass sheets is unbelievingly increasing to give a stylish look to the buildings. Unfortunately these bigger windows are killing many birds. Despite having exceptional sight, birds have a difficult time seeing glass. Instead, they see the reflection of the sky and plants, which they think indicates a safe area to fly, particularly if they are startled or threatened. While a strong window collision can kill a bird on impact, many times birds are stunned and appear to recover and fly away. Unfortunately, these injured birds may later suffer internal haemorrhaging and brain swelling that leads to death. Stunned birds may also be less agile fliers and more disoriented, making them vulnerable to predators. To prevent these incidents there are several easy ways to make our windows more visible and avoidable for birds. Depending on the design and location of windows we should try some ways to reduce reflection.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The last hunt...



This primarily arboreal bronzeback tree snake (Dendrelaphis spp.) was killed by a vehicle of the apex predator HUMAN while it was devouring its prey on the road. I have heard many people saying “why do they have to cross the road?” however we deny to accept the reality that we are crossing through their habitats by making roads.