Children for Environment

Seagulls find ganthias irresistible 6 Dec 2006, 2316 hrs IST,Hitarth Pandya,TNN SURAT: 'Surat nu jaman ane Kashi nu maran' is what seagulls,which travel thousands of kilometres to come to the city, seem to believe in. For, these birds have partially given up their natural sea food and are relishing local delicacies like ganthia, bhusu and khandvi. And food-crazy Surtis love to oblige the hungry seagulls by laying out the delicacies on the bridges over the Tapi. Ornithologist Salim Ali would have scratched his beard had he been to Makaipul on a chilly morning and found these birds gulping down ganthias. Obsessed with the taste of this popular Gujarati snack, these winged migrants fight off crows who also want to feed on it. City-based bird lovers cite the mass death of migratory birds in the Lakhota Talav of Jamnagar last year. "Due to pollution, the number of fish in the estuary have declined drastically. At the same time, these birds are getting alternative food. So they ...