New Delhi
Sana Firdous has built a beautiful bird sanctuary in a part of her house in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, by using waste materials, setting a trend of recycling, and living in harmony with Nature.
No wonder her mornings start with listening to the chirping of birds; they also come home in the evening making a chorus of sardonic sounds.
This sanctuary in the desert region is not only home to small birds like pigeons, but a variety of avians have taken the space created by naturalist Sama Firdous as home. The reason is their nurturer keeps the place packed with good food and clean drinking water, for they are part of her family.
Sama started inviting the birds to her garden about a year ago. Initially, only a few visitors came, however, gradually the numbers kept adding and her garden is now the real home of some 40 birds.
Sana Firdous and her birds
Sana Firdous has set up six different types of bird feeders out of the waste material available in her house. These contraptions can be seen surrounded by birds in the morning and evening for helping themselves to have their meal.
Sana said she was perturbed on realizing that due to rapid urbanization, the number of birds was decreasing. She knew that the city's rapid growth had reduced the habitat for birds. Besides, the use of pesticides in the fields had poisoned their natural diet.
Her innate love and the sense of responsibility toward birds made Sana Firdous take initiative on saving them. Her mother-in-law is an avid gardener and Sana too had joined her in nurturing the beautiful garden the family has.
Sana Firdous says, “As children, we are taught to feed birds and animals. However, in the daily rush for work and studies, we tend to forget to do all this. So I decided to pay more attention to it and made my first bird feeder from the plastic waste around the house. After a few days, the birds started coming.”
Birds eating out of feeders made of discarded railing
Within a year, their garden was humming with birds and it became an attraction for friends and relatives, who visited the place with their children just to see the birds.
Today, five bulbuls, a tailor bird, a sunbird, jungle buckwheat, etc. are among some 40 birds who consider Sana’s garden as their home. Sana Firdous’s three young daughters also help her in this task.
Sana Firdous uses her YouTube channel to tell people the stories of the birds and disseminate her love for them. She also has a tutorial on how to invite birds to one’s home and arrange their food and drink.
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