GURUGRAM: Six birds were admitted to a city-based bird hospital in the last couple of days, after they were injured by kite strings."We've reported six cases in the last 2-3 days. We've witnessed severe muscle damage in pigeons, doves, eagles and sparrows due to glass-coated kite strings. Most of these birds were found entangled in manja , while some were found hanging from trees. It's disheartening to see birds suffer life-threatening injuries," said Raj Kumar, a senior ornithologist at the charitable Jain Bird Hospital in Jacobpura.Last year, the hospital reported 16 such cases on Independence Day alone, out of which five are still in the hospital. "Generally, birds with wide wingspan suffer the most from muscle injuries, sometimes even losing feathers. While for muscle injuries, we go for surgery, we can't do much in case of loss of feathers," said Kumar.Ornithologists fear the numbers could go up on Tuesday, and appealed for giving up kite flying on Independence Day. "There are many ways to celebrate Independence Day. Kite-flying should be avoided completely, as it's disastrous for birds," suggested Deepak Bansal, a city-based vet.Some suggested avoiding kite flying in the mornings and evenings. "First of all, glass-tainted strings should be strictly banned. Secondly, people should at least make sure not to fly kites in the mornings and evenings, as these are periods when the skies have the highest density of birds," said Rashmi Gupta, another ornithologist.Ornithologists also appealed that injured birds be brought to bird hospitals. "Once a bird is injured, it can't move and gets severely dehydrated. First aid can make a huge difference. If one finds an injured bird, or one entangled in manja, please bring it immediately to our hospital," said Kumar.

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