Birds are very important in agro-ecosystem as they are good indicator of agro-biodiversity. They are also known to play various important ecological functions in agricultural landscapes. As the maximization of crop yield is the major concern for all nowadays, birds in agricultural landscapes are generally viewed as 'pests' to a variety of crops.

However, there are many birds which are destroyers of insect pests and rodents, and hence they are beneficial to the crops and the farmers. Moreover, birds which damage crops (depredatory birds) may also play vital ecological functions in the agricultural landscapes as well as in other surrounding landscapes such as wetlands, urban or suburban and forested areas.

So, the need of the hour is to manage the depredatory birds and to conserve the beneficial birds in agricultural landscapes. The systematic approach to the bird pest management involves correct identification of the depredatory birds, knowing its exact economic status by drawing a balance sheet of its useful and harmful activities, breeding ecology and population estimates which are necessary pre-requisites for evolving effective and economical control measures.

All these studies are come under a relatively new branch of biology called "Agricultural Ornithology".

What is Agricultural Ornithology?

The science of agricultural ornithology deals with obtaining scientific information on birds in relation to agriculture and using this information for the management of birds in agricultural landscape.

The term 'birds' used in this definition can be of two types; one is beneficial species which can act as a potent check on pests (e.g. insects and rodents) and the other is pest (species) which are granivorous birds that damage agricultural crops, fruits, etc.

Management of such birds will involve conservation of beneficial species and control of pests (species).

Agricultural ornithology in India:

India is an agrarian country with farmers making nearly 70% of the billion-plus population. Though agricultural bird problems in India are as old as agriculture itself, studies in agricultural ornithology and the other aspects of applied research were largely ignored until early eighties.

Studies on Agricultural ornithology were started in India in 1973 on the recommendation of renowned ornithologist Salim Ali. Since then, there has been a steady progress in the study on the role of birds in relation to crop production.

A number of need based bird management practices for increasing crop production have been developed for adoption by the farming community in the country. A total of 63 species of birds belonging to 19 families have been identified to damaging several crops.

Among the 46 species of beneficial birds, which devoured insects and rodent pests, all fed on insects while six of them also consumed rodents. 28 species of birds that inflicted damages to crops and fifteen of the beneficial species were omnivorous (see ICAR bulletin II "Research Accomplishments of Agricultural ornithology).

In spite of all these progress in the study on agricultural ornithology in this country, data on depredatory birds, beneficial birds, role of birds in relation to crop yields, etc. from the agricultural landscapes in the eastern India and north-eastern region of the country are lacking.

Moreover, farmland biodiversity forms an important part of the total biodiversity of the region. There is tremendous lack of knowledge on the agrobiodiversity of the region.

Bird management in India should involve controlling the harmful species and encouraging the beneficial ones. For these, a proper understanding of the ecological requirements and economic status of the birds is required.

In order to have an effective and proper management of agricultural birds one has to study their economic status, feeding ecology, breeding biology and population dynamics in different areas in relation to agriculture. Only then, one could think of making generalizations about how to control bird (pests).

In India, the science of agricultural ornithology is still in its infancy. Though research in this field has been started in various parts of the country, there are huge gaps / lacunae in knowledge, information and research on agricultural birds of the northeast India.

Practically, there are very few systematic records of birds of Manipur in particular and north east India in general. Studies on bird community structure in the agricultural landscapes of Manipur are lacking.

Since biodiversity studies need inventorying and monitoring of different taxa, in different landscapes, studies of such kind is the need of the hour, particularly in the virgin and biodiversity rich area, such as the North eastern part of India.

Moreover, in order to meet food demands of the teeming population of the region, crop yield should be miximised. To do so, we need to resort to conservation, management and sustainable use of bioresources of the region including agricultural landscapes. Studies on proper management of agricultural birds- which forms the core of Agricultural Ornithology are imperative.

And evolution of any management strategy requires knowledge on depredatory birds' feeding guild structure, breeding and roosting ecology.

Agricultural ornithology in the world:

Many pristine natural environments are constantly being modified by human activities. Such modifications of natural landscapes result in the formation of many new landscapes such as cultivated agricultural landscape which is basically a totally new landscape and differs in many important respects from natural ecosystems.

Agricultural ecosystems are young on an evolutionary time scale even where agriculture has been practiced continuously for more than 4000 years as in the case of rice cultivation in India, Thailand and Southern China. Thus, agriculture represents an enormous unplanned experiment on how biodiversity responds to environmental change.

Indeed, agricultural landscapes are excellent models for studying the relationships between biodiversity and the habitat templet and the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem function.

Agroecosystem were initially regarded as degraded environments where the impact of human inferences is quite significant, resulting in a species poor landscapes. Avifauna structures of such landscape were hardly studied in many palaetropical countries.

However, recent studies in both temperate and neotropical countries have shown that this ecosystem can be treated as a new ecological system which has its own distinctive biodiversity. Since agricultural landscape has been created and managed by humans, there is 'planned diversity'.

Thus, agricultural landscape represent as a laboratory for studying a new aspects of biodiversity: impact of human activities on (avian) biodiversity and importance of habitat heterogeneity in maintaining biodiversity. Studies in Europe and North America show that habitat heterogeneity is associated with higher biodiversity in the farmed landscape.

Habitat heterogeneity has been implicated as a key to improving and conserving biodiversity. Recent study by the author shows the importance of habitat heterogeneity in improving certain landscapes such as wetlands, urban landscapes, etc.

Role of habitat heterogeneity in improving agrobiodiversity using birds as indicator species can be an interesting area for research.

Birds are not a new problem as regards to agricultural crop damage. References to damages caused by birds have been made periodically during the last five centuries. The havoc played by them has led to the enactment of laws for their control in Britain since fifteenth century.

A proper and effective management of birds of agricultural landscapes is very much required, given that the volume of crops losses and damages to agricultural products caused by birds is too enormous to neglect. Moreover, the world today is facing an acute shortage of food.

Another important aspect of agricultural landscape is the indiscrimate use of pesticides to increase food yield to meet the demands of the teeming population.

The 'Silent Spring' drew the world's attention on the health hazards of excessive use of pesticides and suggested management solution. Before the advent of chemical pesticides, birds did the job of scanning large tracts of agricultural lands for pests such as insects and rodents.

Moreover, birds are indicator of the level of pesticides or toxicity in the agricultural field. These make studies on agriculture ornithology very imperative these days.