How animal lovers in Bengaluru saved nearly 50 parakeets struck by heavy rains

Nearly twenty parakeets, struck my rain, were released into their habitat earlier this week by a group of animal lovers who had rescued them from the heavy rains last week.

Torrential rain caused hundreds of parakeets to fall out of a grove of trees near Orion Mall in Rajajinagar on Saturday night.

Thousands of parakeets have been known to congregate in the grove, and many of these are of the rose-winged variety.

The birds were drenched and unable to fly, and several were run over by motorists causing the deaths of nearly 90 parakeets.

Some citizens swiftly came to the rescue of the birds and volunteers were able to save close to 50 parakeets.

The incident was initially reported to Keerthan Vignesh, a volunteer at People For Animals who rushed to the scene with several friends at around 9 pm.

“When we went there, we saw that a big branch had fallen on the road. The parakeets that had fallen along with it were completely soaked and couldn’t fly. We were shocked to see so many dead birds. As soon as we reached, we saw a car run over one of the birds in front of our eyes,” said Keerthan.

He added that “the motorists weren’t bothered about the birds. They began arguing with the people who walked on the roads to save the birds. Several kept driving even though they could see that the birds were alive.”

The volunteers began collecting the incapacitated birds amidst an onslaught of rain and vehicular traffic, and the rescue operation went on till 1:30 am on Sunday.

These parakeets were then entrusted to the care of the Avian and Reptile Rehabilitation Centre (ARRC) in Horamavu for treatment.

Jayanthi Kallam, veterinary technician and co-founder of ARRC, stated that close to twenty birds were released back into their habitat on Sunday morning.

These birds were uninjured, but had been unable to fly back into their nests because they were weighed down by the rain.

“The parakeet is not a nocturnal bird, and it doesn’t fly around after dark. During heavy rains, these birds hunker down to regulate their body temperature. Many birds were paralysed in fear and confusion after the fall,” said Jayanthi, while discussing the cause of the incident.

Three more birds were released on Tuesday, and the rest are expected to make rapid and complete recoveries.

“We have a consulting veterinarian working with us, along with several veterinary technicians that are focused on getting these birds back to full health,” stated Jayanthi adding that ARRC still has thirty birds under its care, which will be released when they recover.