Bird watchers, who were on a regular birding trip in Vasai on Wednesday morning, were in for shock on seeing a couple of locals not only poaching Wooly Necked Storks — a three feet local migrant bird — but also killing it for its meat.

A couple of birders — member of Nature and Environmental Society of Thane (NEST) who were moving in the Rajavali Tivri area of Vasai East to watch several local and migrant birds that flock these areas — claim that poaching of these storks and other migratory birds goes on rampantly by locals, who hunt these birds for meat.

"We were walking when we spotted these two men holding the birds. We enquired about it but they said that these birds have been electrocuted. However, when we saw closely the birds were alive. They mentioned that they were trying to give some water to these birds to see if they can be revived. We saw these men holding the storks by wings and walking towards the village," shared a birdwatcher from the group.

He added: "As we were few in number, we decided not to argue with the locals fearing a backlash."

The birdwatchers while returning saw that the locals had killed the birds and had unfeathered them for cooking. "We are planning to inform the forest officials but apart from that we are thinking of going to these villages and creating awareness about the need of conserving these birds instead of hunting them for meat," shared a member.

He added that they could even earn a good revenue through conservation by taking bird watchers on trails in these areas, which has lots of birds visiting.

Another birdwatcher claimed that these storks are normally seen in pair of three to four at times but at this location in Rajavali Tiwri village where there are paddy fields no longer used for cultivation one could find more than a dozens of them.

"We saw them being hunted and are sure many other migratory birds might also be getting poached for various reasons, which is clearly illegal. This needs to be stopped," said the birder from Vasai.

Renowned birder Adesh Shivkar said that poaching was proving to be a huge issue for birds like these that are hunted for their meat.

"Several birds have been severely affected by habitat destruction and disturbances caused due to human interferences and hunting birds for exotic meat is only adding to their woes. It's not that these people hunt these birds as they have nothing to eat but hunting is a pride sport. Hence, there is an urgent need for creating community sesitisation," shared Shivkar, adding that these poaching can only be stopped through community interventions.

Woolly-necked storkLarge bird close to 85cm tall and sports a white neck with a black skull cap. It has long red legs and a heavy, blackish bill.