Every dusk in the University of Dhaka campus, in Bangladesh’s busy capital city of Dhaka, the canopies of the taller trees like Gogon sirish (Albizia richardiana), or Raj koroi, trees shake as flocks of black kites (Milvus migrans) descend onto the branches. Before their final landing for the day in their roosts, the communal raptors soar high in circles over the canopies, declaring their roosting territories together. However, the sight of soaring black kites over some Gogon sirish trees has become a rare sight across the vast 306-square-kilometer (118-square-mile) expanse of Dhaka city, which has become urbanized in an unplanned manner at the cost of wetlands and numerous mature trees. This transformation also indicates the degrading habitats of all urban raptors. In April and May this year, the Bangladesh Forest Department’s wildlife inspectors rescued at least 35 black kites, exhausted and collapsing midair during their flights, from several localities in Dhaka. According to rescuers, it is mostly the juvenile black kites that become sick while searching for suitable perches between their common foraging and roosting sites. “Commonly, a young bird that has just completed its fledgling stage hones its flying skills by completing short trips from one tree branch to nearby ones. When it struggles to find trees amidst a jungle of concrete and eventually loses the minimum energy to fly, it may collapse,” Ashim Mallick, a wildlife inspector, told Mongabay. Before their final landing in their roosts, the communal raptors soar high in circles over the canopies, declaring their…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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