After observing a steep decline in the number of sparrows in Bengaluru, ornithologists have found out that even the population of crows has suffered a drastic reduction, reports Deccan Herald.

The report says that the number of crows has reduced by as much as 60% according to some birdwatchers and ornithologists.

The newspaper quotes a birdwatcher, Manjunath Prabhakar as saying, “The huge tree near Gayathri Vihar on Palace Road used to be abuzz with cawing crows. At any given point in time, one could easily spot at least 80 nests. But now, especially in the past two years, I have not seen many nests. Instead, many dead crows are sighted on the City roads.”

Ullas Kumar R K of Eco Watch, an NGO working for better environment in and around the city, said that crows are dying after feeding on rodents that were poisoned to death.

He also underlined the ecological importance of crows as they check the population of rodents and consume discarded meat.

Earlier in a report, DH mentioned a survey conducted by the Centre for Ecological Sciences of the Indian Institute of Science, which found that the primary reason for dwindling of crows was lack of nesting spaces as a result of urbanization and uncontrolled infrastructure growth.

The same report quoted Dr S Subramanya, Professor of Entomology, Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra, University of Agricultural Sciences as saying, “Though we have not done any formal study, we have noticed reduction in their numbers”. 

One of the other reasons responsible for the decrease in population of crows was the increase of Blue Rock pigeons, which could adapt better than crows in the urban environment.