Makar Sankranti is basically a festival of ravens in the Kumaon Himalayan region. This day is celebrated here as the 'Kala-crow' festival. In the mountains, 'house crow', also known as 'gray-nested crow', is rarely seen. The large-sized black crow found here is the 'raven', whose ancestors would have decided to leave the forest for more than a century ago and live in areas populated by humans. The average age of Revan is ten-fifteen years.
In every house of Kumaon on the day of Kar Sankranti, sweet flour is fried by giving the appearance of sugarcane and many symbols related to folklife such as darim flowers, shield-sword, damru, etc. The women of the house then thread them with urad dal big, peanuts, and other food items and give them the shape of a garland, in the middle of which hangs the 'orange' fruit that occurs in every house in the mountains these days as a pendant. goes. The next morning, the children, ready to put these garlands hanging in a peg, put pithia (tilak) on the next morning, put them around the neck, and gather in the hallway of the house. Then begins a program to invite crows. The whole environment resonates with a simple invitation like 'Kale Kale Khajura Khale' or 'Le Kau Fulo Makne Di Bhel-Bhal Dholo' (Crows you take flowers and give me a nice bride).
This year, after many years, he was still at home on the festival of a black crow. Even today, this festival is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the mountains. But the crows did not appear this time. The children, after calling the 'Kale-crow Kale-crow' for a while, started eating the dishes themselves in their garlands, and the festival was completed, leaving many questions behind.
Where did those crows that are easily visible in our childhood?
In the cold winter of the month of Magh - when there is nothing in the fields and barns, the forests remain sleepy and the small population of the hill villages is forced to remain indoors due to cold and snowfall - for the birds to own Preserving existence would have been a challenge. Perhaps this is the reason that this festival must have started sometime in the past keeping in mind the crows who have a close relationship with the public life. But why did the crows who were always present around villages and towns suddenly go away even in the severe cold?
In this context, when we tried to gather information, it was found that after the sparrow, the disappearance of crows from cities and towns is a question that is yet to be answered definitively to the bird lovers of the world. Sparrows have started homecoming even now, but the crow, an old friend of man, is currently angry. It is worth mentioning that the crow is probably the most intelligent bird among humans. It is probably the only bird that can recognize its image in the mirror; On becoming friends, it expresses its friendship with humans by offering it shining glass pieces, earrings, small conch shells, iron nuts, and bolts, etc. This bird living in the group is aware of the collection of things to be used in the future. According to Baukali, Bugniyar, and some other explorers, they can report their gender and age to other groups. They are so intelligent that when the mayor of Chatham city started a campaign to kill them due to the mess they made, they started flying at such high altitude in the city limits, which was beyond the limits of gunfire. was.
They can talk in about thirty-three different voices. Scientists have also taken cognizance of seven different games played by them. According to the pseudonymous merjloofs, once a group of scientists was attacked by some crows because they had caught some of their companions in the east.
At the time of the crows disappearing suddenly, no definite information is available at the moment. Paul R. Professor of Modern Indian History and Community and Behavioral Science at the University of Iowa. In a study called Decline of Crowe, Grenaf clarified that while the number of 'house crews' in India is decreasing, their colonies in Africa, West Asia, and Southeast Asia are increasing unexpectedly. Scientists and bird lovers currently have no definitive answer to why this is happening. After all, the destruction or naturalization of natural habitat is not the reason that can be directly attributed to the falling number of crows.
Crows have the amazing ability to adapt themselves to changing environments. They need only trees for housing, which is not currently lacking in villages and towns and most urban areas. MB Krishna, a bird scientist from Bangalore, believes that the lack of scientific data can be attributed to the reduction of trees on the basis of intuitive knowledge and the greater use of insecticides. Bombay Natural History Society assistant director Ranjit Manakdan estimates that due to the growing awareness of cleanliness, putting garbage in plastic containers and bags and using toxic chemicals to kill cockroaches and mice may cause the crows to disappear. Can.