Urban Birds

By Sameer Sajid, Ahmed Usama, Ayesha Malik, Touseef Channa, Hamza Malik and Mujtaba Iqbal.

25 June, 2022.

"I do come here on daily basis for my own peace, otherwise I stay restless all day long," says 55 year old Kerrori Ram Kukrija, a regular bird feeder in Ferrer Hall. He says that pigeon feeders are those humans who have the purest of heart. Even, during couple of years ago at the lockdown period, only he was allowed inside the Ferrer Hall to feed the birds. Security let him in as they have also understood the bond Kukrijja has developed with the birds." These birds do recognize me as their friends," says Kukriji.

Kukrijia is not the only dweller of Karachi who feeds birds with such love, many people are engage in this bird feeding activity with strong believe of feeding them would bring some kind of luck or reward to them.

42 year old Sajjad is paid by a business man from Bolton Market to take care of water and food supply for pigeons and other birds at Kabootar Chowk (Pigeon Round About) opposite Sindh Supreme Court. " I am paid by a Seth to feed these voiceless creatures. Other than that, I earn in thousands from selling feed from birds, daily. "

Pigeons are named as Urban birds as they dwell in cities. At all most every corner and round about birds feeding stalls are present.

"At one point it looks like an harmless ritual, however by doing so people are building an unreal habitat for these birds as they do dwell on trees i.e. their natural habitat," says Ambreen Aziz, a lecturer in Environmental Sciences in Sindh Madressa tul Islam University.

" People are doing it for their own gain of rewards (mostly) without thinking about the problematic contributions they are making in environment," she said. Apart from giving them these grains at their feeding points they instead of it start depending on insects by which they usually shorten their life.

These pigeons and birds usually feed on locusts in natural, but due to less locusts and insects they are deprived of their natural and real food. So they start to depend on grains for survival.. similarly when these birds are feeding upon grains then the locusts eventually grow more and spread for which it results in crop spoilage.

These pigeons are also being the reason for spoilage of city beauty as they are seen everywhere, also they do shit/poop everywhere on cars, building, streets, footpaths. This is an environmental issue too. They must be shifted to migrated towards their natural habitat.

Locust Attack on Pakistan:

Entered in Pakistan June 19 from Iran. Devastated large area of agriculture land across south western districts. Raging cotton, wheat, maize and other crops. Agricultural loss can reach to PKR 205 billion (USD 1.3 billion) considering damage at level of 15% at 25% level of damage PKR 353 billion. Damage estimated of 2019 and 2020 by FAD was 25% of standing crops 353 billion PKR (USD 2.19 Billion) for Rabi crops and about 464 billion PKR(USD 2.88 million for Kharif crops (Summer sown crops).

According to one seller at Johar More, many of the people come to feed them, Some regularly and some oftenly and some rarely. The people also develop faith that on feeding them our work will get easy and problems will get solve. Even if it gets into a coincidence, people start to believe these things and try to implement on regular basis. Some also just place hand on the grain bowl and let the pigeons eat it all. For the sake of faith and belief people are feeding without stopping.

Different people have different faiths according to their experience and according to their needs. On feeding these birds people wait and seek for solutions and miracles. People feed and wait for miracles to happen in return like infertility solutions, marriage solutions, job solutions, prosperity. Where as some people for humanity only take care of these birds/creatures without any benefits and causes.

Mohammad Ahmad Raza, who has done M.Phil. in Islamic learning. Teacher at Fizan online academy. According to him, It’s absolutely wrong to make a concept by own that by feeding these birds our work will get done or the problems will get solve. It's nothing like that. Feed them just for the sake of humanity and goodness and nothing more. Feeding them comes under the kind of charity (sadqa) that is for goodness and for receiving blessings of Allah. As we will take care of His creatures so He will take more care of us for sure.

Islam teaches us act of humanity, act of mercy, act of kindness towards these creatures/birds/pigeons as they are voiceless birds who do not speak and tell either they are hungry or thrifty. It is us, who are the source of providing them food and water for their existence and possibility of survival. In the light of Islam, kindness always leads towards blessings and benefits that you can't even imagine so we are ordered to take care of living beings around us.

Long ago, pigeons were used to proclaim the winners at the ancient Olympic games. Ancient Roman texts mention that Julius Caesar used pigeons to send messages. Messenger pigeons were being used in Baghdad in the year 1150. Genghis Khan, the Mongol ruler also used messenger pigeons. Sultan Noor-Uddin established a pigeon post in 1167 from Baghdad and Syria.

Tipu Sultan (1750-1799) of the princely state of Mysore in India was also a pigeon fancier and used them for communication. Paul Reuter, the founder of the Reuters Press Agency had a team of 45 carrier pigeons to transport messages from Brussels to Aachen. The result of the Battle of Waterloo was transported from France to England by a pigeon.

Types of pigeons:

There are three main types of pigeons which would be called domestic, their purpose determines which kind they are. Keep in mind that all domiciliary pigeons are essentially the same, but people domesticate them for various reasons and having pigeons as pets has become an increasingly popular hobby around the world.

Pigeons in Racing:

Pigeons are also bred for racing. One of the most prominent racing breeds is called Racing Homers. The sport was very popular in Belgium in the 19th century. The Belgians were so taken by the sport that they developed a breed that could fly fast and had long endurance, called Voyageurs. Selective breeding has seen racing pigeons develop the capacity to travel over 1600 km in single races at speeds of over 130 km/h (with tailwind) and 60km/h (normal day).

Pigeons Food:

Pigeons, like people, need a balanced and varied diet. The basis of the diet is oats rich in various microelements, and pigeons get vitamins from green feed. As for the portion size, it depends on the size of the birds. Meat breeds, for example, are much larger than sports breeds, therefore, they need more feed.

Permitted products for pigeons

Since the bird eats with pleasure almost everything, before making a ration for birds, you should find out how to feed pigeons, but not what. The list of approved products includes:

§ all cereals;

§ legumes;

§ stones;

For centuries, the pigeon was used to relay messengers. This might be one of the reasons why a mythology developed around them. People believed that these birds were sent by our guardian angels to watch out for us and care for us. Over the years, pigeons and doves have been a symbol of happiness, peace and bliss.

These birds are said to bring good fortune and positive news. They were thought to be extremely lucky birds. While some cultures thought that pigeons were a symbol of the souls of the dead, the ancient Egyptians believed that they were a symbol of fertility. This ancient belief lives on today in marriages were white doves are released as a way of bringing good fortune to the new couple.

In Christian beliefs, pigeons were said to bring a message of a coming death. If a pigeon appeared on the window of a home, it was said that someone in the home would soon die. Meanwhile, the Bible told stories of the white dove being a symbol of the divine.

When Jesus was baptized, a dove came down from the sky as a representation of the Holy Spirit. Because of these beliefs, it was thought to be unlucky to harm a pigeon or a dove.

It is said that a pigeon building a nest in your roof is a sign that your home is divinely protected. If you see a dove at your wedding, it is thought to be a positive sign for your marriage. If you see a dead pigeon on the roadway, it is said to be an inauspicious sign for future travels. Meanwhile, seeing a white dove on your kitchen table shows that there will be a death in the family. If pigeons land on your roof, it is said to mean that someone close to you will die. If you are pooped on by a pigeon, it is thought to be a sign of a financial windfall in your future.

Dreaming about a dead dove means you have to be careful about problems that are approaching in your future. If you dream about a living dove, it shows that you may be too strict in your waking life. You are being too hard on other people and should be more peaceful and loving to those around you.