2600:8803:C400:620:AD5A:57E0:D6FA:2959 at 13:47, 18 March 2022

2022-03-18T13:47:44Z

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{{For|the Assamese language film|Jatinga Ityadi}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Jatinga
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Assam#India
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Assam, India
| coordinates = {{coord|25.1149|N|92.9437|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Assam]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Districts of Assam|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Dima Hasao]]
| established_title =
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body = [[Gram panchayat]]
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes = 600meter above sea level.
| elevation_m =
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Assamese language|pnar/haflong hindi]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type =
| postal_code =
| registration_plate = AS 08-
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Jatinga''' (Pron: ʤʌˈtɪŋgə or ʤæˈtɪŋgə ), a village on a ridge, is located in [[Dima Hasao district]], [[Assam]] State in [[India]]. It is {{convert|330|km|mi}} south of [[Guwahati]]<ref>Choudhury, A. U. (7 September 1986). "Bird killing at Jatinga", ''The Sentinel''.</ref> The village is inhabited by about 2,500 [[Khasi people|Khasi]]-Pnar people and a few [[People of Assam|Assamese]].

== Bird deaths ==

At the end of the [[monsoon]] months especially on moonless and foggy dark nights between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m usually in the months of September and October, birds are not disturbed by the locals but out of the dark northern skies will start to descend as they are attracted to lights. These dazed birds are captured using bamboo poles by the locals.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://nchills.gov.in/NCHILLS-JATINGA.htm
|title=Jatinga Bird Mystery
|accessdate=9 July 2007
|publisher=District Government of Region of North Cachar Hills}}</ref> The local tribals first took this natural phenomenon to be spirits flying from the sky to terrorize them. This phenomenon is not confined to a single species, with [[tiger bittern]], [[black bittern]], [[little egret]], [[pond heron]], [[Indian pitta]], and [[kingfisher]]s all being affected,<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.assam-tourism.com/jatinga.htm
|title=Assam Tourism: Jatinga
|accessdate=14 January 2009
|publisher=Assam Tourism Travel Guide
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619095805/http://www.assam-tourism.com/jatinga.htm
|archivedate=19 June 2009
}}</ref> as well as [[hill partridge]], [[green pigeon]], [[emerald dove]], [[necklaced laughingthrush]], [[black drongo]].<ref name=Statesman720 /> The birds are mostly juvenile, according to Assam's best known ornithologist, [[Anwaruddin Choudhury]].<ref name=Statesman727>{{cite web| url= http://www.thestatesman.com/mobi/news/northeast/fewer-birds-at-jatinga/78270.html |title= Fewer birds at Jatinga| work=The Statesman| date= 27 July 2015| accessdate= 14 February 2016}}</ref>

The late naturalist [[Edward Pritchard Gee|E. P. Gee]] brought this phenomenon to global attention in the 1960s. He drove to Jatinga with famed ornithologist late [[Salim Ali]].<ref>Gee, E. P. (1964). ''The Wild Life of India'', Collins, London.</ref> The cause of it is likely to be disorientation at high altitudes and high speed winds due to the widespread fog characteristic at the time.<ref name=Statesman720>{{cite web| url= http://www.thestatesman.com/mobi/news/northeast/birds-decreasing-in-suicide-spot-of-jatinga/76791.html |title= Birds decreasing in Jatinga 'suicide spot'| work=[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]| date= 20 July 2015| accessdate= 14 February 2016}}</ref> The zoological survey of India sent Sudhir Sengupta to unravel this mystery. The most recent description of the phenomenon and its comparison with similar incidents elsewhere in [[Malaysia]], [[Philippines]], and [[Mizoram]] is found in the book ''The Birds of Assam'' by Anwaruddin Choudhury. He concluded that the birds, mostly juveniles and local migrants, are disturbed by high velocity winds at their roost. When the disturbed birds fly towards lights as refuge they are hit with bamboo poles and killed or injured.<ref>Choudhury, Anwaruddin U. (2000). ''The Birds of Assam''. Gibbon Books & WWF-India, Guwahati. 240 pp.</ref>

Conservation groups and wildlife officials in India have taken steps to prevent wanton killing of birds across India, creating awareness in the illiterate villagers. Bikash Brahma, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of Dima Hasao, stated the killings as well as the number of birds arriving at the village has been declining gradually since the last few years.<ref name=Statesman720 /> Much of this is due to loss of habitat caused by "development and environment degradation".<ref name=Statesman727 />

== See also ==
* [[Dima Hasao district]]
* [[Kaziranga National Park]]
* [[Tourism in Assam]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Tourism in Assam]]
[[Category:Tourism in Northeast India]]
[[Category:Dima Hasao district]]
[[Category:Villages in Dima Hasao district]]
[[Category:Ornithology]]

Jatinga - Revision history

2600:8803:C400:620:AD5A:57E0:D6FA:2959 at 13:47, 18 March 2022