CAN you imagine a sky without feathery birds flying … or a spring without their melodious chirping … or trees without nests of various kinds? Today, it might appear unimaginable, but it is difficult to talk with any degree of certainty about the future. When human beings become insensitive to the nature, they tend to destroy the environment. Around 500 documented bird species have so far gone extinct due to such activities. According to researchers, the extinction rate of birds is doubling in the 21st century. This is alarming.

Countries like Pakistan have also seen an increase in the extinction of many bird species. Previously, it was hard for the common man to find data on such issues, but wildlife artists, such as Ghulam Abbas Khaskheli, have been documenting the birds with a rare concept of paintings. The two books, Birds of Pakistan and Painted Eggs, are rare documentations of even rarer birds captured in the form of paintings in these books. The first book is a compilation of paintings of more than 100 bird species, while in the second book, the author has gone a step further by painting on eggshells.

However, the books do not have mere paintings as the author has added descriptions and details of each species, and has clearly mentioned those that are on the brink of extinction. For instance, cheer pheasant, found in the Himalayas’ steep, grassy hillsides, has almost gone extinct in Pakistan because of the destruction of its habitat.

If they keep going one after the other, we may have a day with no bird flying around. It is perhaps only then that we, the humans, will realise what we have done.

Khurshid Ali
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2022