



Location : Jatinga, Assam, India.





Jatinga, a village in beautiful state of Assam

is

perhaps famous for a mysterious '

'

phenomenon. The phenomenon of bird suicides is reffered as ‘avian harakiri’ by locals. T

he myth of the bird suicides has spread far and wide among common people.

"As fog comes on a moonless night,

When the wind blows in direction right, Jatinga turns into an island of search light,

& birds appear like ghosts from nowhere."

What is the Mystery?





Every year during the late monsoon months of September and November several migratory and local birds commit mass suicide at the Jatinga village.

Usually on a dark foggy moonless nights, hundreds of birds descend from the sky, plummeting to their deaths by crashing into buildings and trees.

Over the Centuries, locals believed that evil spirits living in the skies were responsible for bringing down the birds.









These suicidal birds are identified as Juvenile birds. These set of

Juvenile birds consists around

48 different species

including Tiger Bittern, Cinnamon Bittern, Black Bittern, Little Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Chinese Pond Heron, Indian Pitta, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Rudy Kingfisher etc.

These extraordinary suicides occur at the specific spot and not at the nearby places even if they were illuminated just like Jatinga. It

happens only in a specific area of 1500 meters long and 200 meters wide.

Picture for Illustrations

While birds have been known to occasionally plunge to their deaths though almost certainly not intentionally, usually

.

"Believing the birds to be spirits flying from the sky to terrorize them", the villagers took to capturing them with bamboo poles and beating the birds to death.

Scientific Explanations





Various studies were conducted and different reasons are cited for the mass avian suicides by the birds.

The experts from the Geological Survey of India concluded that with the onset of winter, the high-velocity winds blow towards southwest from the hilltop together with the widespread fog. It causes the disorientation of the birds at high altitudes and they seek refuge or solace near the light sources.





The burning of torches by the villagers together with the strategic location of high power searchlight sources attracts the flying birds at night and they hover over the light sources and are captured.

While descending towards light they often get stuck in trees, walls, buildings etc., and fall easy prey to the villagers

.





Also another theory suggested that the reason for the suicide is the magnetic behavior of the subterranean water.

The birds get the sense of direction by the magnetic polarity of the earth. But the weather of the region is supposed to change the magnetic polarity of the underground water and the birds get disoriented.





Tourism





The phenomenon brought thousands of wildlife enthusiast, domestic and foreign tourists and many ornithologists from all over the world.

A bird watchtower was built at Jatinga for the visitors to witness the incident this rare phenomenon on prior booking.





(Watch Tower at Jatinga, SOURCE : http://nchills.gov.in/NCHILLS-JATINGA.htmL )

But the mystery still remains unanswered that why the birds fly at night? Why do they get trapped at same place every year?





















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