PU’s feathered friends

The Panjab University campus, covering an area of over 500 acres, has a myriad population of the winged fauna. The campusserves as a sanctuary for birds of different species, says Jayanti Roy

THE Panjab University campus can rightfully boast of its architectural marvels designed by Peirre Jeannerret under the guidance of Le Corbusier. It has the beautiful Administrative Building, the artistic Fine Arts Museum, three-winged Gandhi Bhavan, the romantic Students’ Centre and other imposing structures. The campus, covering an area of over 500 acres equivalent to a whole sector, houses people of varied cultures from different regions of India. The campus is free from pollution. Another feature of the PU campus is its myriad population of the winged fauna. It serves as a sanctuary, for birds of different species. Though this characteristic of the campus is not a very prominent one, it is visible to those who have keen interest in this subject.

The campus has well-marked zones. The teaching area is in the north-east, the residential area in the south-east, the market in the middle and the university hostels are on the southern side. The north-western part of the campus lodges the botanical garden, the pharmacy garden, boy’s hostels and a couple of departments like the Academic Staff College and the Regional Resource Centre. This area is the most peaceful in the whole campus. This is also the greenest area of the university. Most of the birds prefer to visit and stay in this part of the campus only.

The compound of Academic Staff College and the botanical garden are frequented by our national bird — the common peafowl or mor. It needs only a cloudy evening for these feathered marvels to strut about graciously with their gorgeous bluish green tails. The place vibrates with cries of peacocks.

The massive mango trees near boys’ hostel No. 4 provide a safe shelter to the birds. Hoopoe, called Hudhud in Hindi, the state bird of Punjab, is found in this grove. Hoopoe is a fawn- coloured bird with black and white markings and a beautiful fan-shaped crest. Its beak is long and curved. It can be seen digging the ground for insects; its crest flickering open from time to time. Its musical call echoes repeatedly in the grove. The grove is also a favourite place of the golden-backed woodpecker or kathphora. It perches itself almost vertically on the old tree trunks, tapping the bark in search of ants and beetles hidden in the crevices. It is a brownish yellow bird with a reddish crest and it lends its monotonous thuk-thuk tapping to hoopoe’s music. Mango trees remind us of koels, which are very much there. In the hot summer afternoons when the whole region is under the spell of the slumber goddess, this bird keeps the university awake with its melodious koo-koo. An amateur eye can sometime mistake koel for the crow but the former is more slender and has a longer tail.

Cattle egret or bagla, a bird with snow-white plumage and yellow bill, is a common sight on the grassy area along Boys’ Hostel No. 4 and the large sports compound adjoining the administrative block. These birds are often seen running on their slender legs and lunging out to catch insects, grasshoppers etc in the grass.

Near the boundary of the grave are small bushes and hedges, the abode of the common babbler, these birds are often found in a group of six or seven. Therefore they are also called saat bahinay or saat bhaiya. They are earthy brown in colour and bigger than a sparrow in size. They feed on ground, scuttle along, hop, jump and chirp, seldom taking a long flight. The bushes are also the abode of the white-cheeked bulbul, a brown bird with a black head, white cheeks and a black-pointed crest. It is a common inhabitant of the campus. It is a bold and lively bird and chirps around all over the campus. Common sparrows also add to the variety of the bird population on the campus.

From the forest area behind the north-western boundary of the university, the jungle fowl jungli murghi, sometimes wanders into the campus. Roaming around on the metalled roads, they are startled by any oncoming vehicle and scuttle to hide into the nearby Lantana bushes. Only a fleeting glimpse of its sickle-shaped glistening black tail is observed.

Various flowering trees on the campus are the abode flocks of rose-ringed parakeet or tota. These birds can be heard screaming at the top of their voices. They do not seem afraid of human beings. Common green pigeon and ring dove, kabootar and fakhta, respectively, seen unaffected by human habitations and reside in the lofts of almost all high buildings of the university.

Another bird that peacefully coexists with man is the ubiquitous crow. However, it is not omnipresent on the campus. It is present mainly around the students’ centre, boldly rummaging through the left-overs. It can also be seen near the hostel messes in search of food scraps.

The Gandhi Bhavan with its philosophically designed structure of a lotus in water stands to enhance the Gandhian values of non-violence and ‘live and let live’. But the bird that has associated itself with it is a raptor. Often on the highest wing of the bhavan a large brown hawk — the common kite or cheel — is seen perched. Occasionally, it swoops down on strong wings and exhibits the grace of its adroit flight. Another visitor to the Bhavan does not conform to the Gandhian ideals. It is the white-breasted kingfisher. A small bird of turquoise blue hue and a long, pointed red bill, it pounces upon grasshoppers or tadpoles in or around water, then flies off to some other spot to relish its catch.

A number of redwattled lapwings titeeri are distributed all over the place — in the grassy enclosures, groves, around the water bodies. Be it any time of day or night, its loud and frantic ‘Did-he-do-it’ call pierces the silence on the campus and reminds the academicians of the presence of this small, brown and white bird.

Among the nocturnal birds, there is the one and only owl whose favourite haunts are thickly foliaged trees growing in abundance in certain parts of campus. It is seldom seen but its shrill call startles those working late in their labs or offices.