Birds falling from the sky in India's Gujarat amid record heatwave

Animal welfare organisations in Ahmedabad receiving up to 75 birds a day

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  A parakeet is nourished with water mixed with multivitamins, after it was dehydrated during scorchingly hot weather in Ahmedabad, India. Reuters. Reuters

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  A vet administers an injection to an eagle at Jivdaya Charitable Trust, a rehabilitation centre for birds and animals, in Ahmedabad, where the temperature this week hit 45.8°C. Reuters

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  Birds falling from trees and the sky is a common occurrence every summer in India, but this year the instances have increased by 30 per cent. Reuters

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  The Jivdaya Charitable Trust is treating birds and animals for dehydration, disorientation, fractures and other injuries due to the searing heat. Reuters

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  A labourer drinks water from a tanker at a construction site on a hot summer day in Noida. India is experiencing a heatwave in the northern and western parts of the country. Reuters

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  A man cools off under a pipe of flowing water on a hot summer day in New Delhi, India. Reuters

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  A man sleeps under a bridge in a bid to escape the searing heat in New Delhi. Reuters

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  Men sleep in the shade on the banks of the Yamuna River. Reuters

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  People shelter under a bridge from scorching heat in New Delhi. EPA

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  Cracked mud at the bottom of a dry pond on a hot day in Mauharia village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Reuters

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  Cattle drink water at an abandoned stone quarry in Chipiya Abhaipur, Uttar Pradesh. Reuters

India's unrelenting high temperatures have resulted in rising cases of birds dropping from the sky due to exhaustion and dehydration.

Animal welfare organisations in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the western state of Gujarat, have been receiving up to 75 ailing birds a day. They are treating the birds for dehydration, disorientation, fractures and other injuries after they fall from the sky.

Doctors at non-profit Jivdaya Charitable Trust said they have treated thousands of birds — including pigeons, kites, parrots and vultures — since the beginning of March, when an unprecedented heatwave gripped the northern and western parts of India.

“These are mostly juvenile birds who are trying to learn flying. They cannot fly very well and because of the extreme heat, they are dehydrated and dropping,” Khyati Kapadia, a doctor treating the birds, told The National.

A vet at Jivdaya Charitable Trust, a rehabilitation centre for birds and other animals, administers an injection to an ailing eagle amid fierce heat in Ahmedabad, India. Reuters

Birds falling from trees and the sky are a common occurrence every summer in India, but this year, these instances have increased by 30 per cent, Dr Kapadia said.

The birds are given fluid therapy, multivitamins and painkillers for other injuries and are taken care of for a week before being released.

Large swathes of north-western, western and central India experienced the hottest April in 122 years as mercury levels rose several notches above the average monthly temperatures.

On Thursday, Ahmedabad sweltered in 42°C heat, a day after it experienced the second-hottest day in May in the past decade with 45.8°C.

While hundreds of millions of people are at risk because of the extraordinary heat, it is also affecting birds and animals.

Vets at Jivdaya Charitable Trust, a rehabilitation centre for birds and other animals, administer a saline drip to a cat covered by a wet cloth after it was dehydrated due to searing heat in Ahmedabad, India. Reuters

In April, a farmer in Pune lost 1,000 chickens at his farm due to the extreme heat.

But Moumita Chatterjee, programme director at the non-profit, said that more than the scorching temperatures, it is a lack of natural water resources — most of which have been encroached upon or turned into human habitation and a natural nesting space for urban birds — that causes exhaustion and dehydration.

A semi-conscious kite lying by the roadside on a sweltering summer's day in Ahmedabad. AFP

To help the birds have access to water, the trust is distributing clay pots and oral rehydration solution sachets among people in residential areas.

“Ahmedabad and 100 kilometres of the city’s vicinity don't have many natural water sources," Ms Chatterjee said. "Natural habitats have been destroyed and birds and animals don’t have clean drinking water."

“We are running a camp where we are distributing earthen pots. We are going to societies, schools and public places, and instructing them to keep the pots in balconies so birds get water locally."

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  An elephant is given a cooling shower at a conservation reserve in Uttar Pradesh state. AFP

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  A boy bathes as he waits to collect water from a municipal tanker on a hot summer day in New Delhi. Reuters

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  A woman fills a plastic container with drinking water from a municipal tanker in New Delhi. Reuters

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  A boy jumps into a pond in Mumbai. Large parts of India are experiencing the hottest April on record. EPA

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  A man selling candy floss in Mumbai helps a water vendor who is using an umbrella as a parasol. AP

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  Men ride a motorcycle during a hot afternoon on the outskirts of New Delhi. EPA

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  A boy eats an ice lolly on the outskirts of New Delhi. EPA

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  Women ride a motorised rickshaw in Amritsar. AFP

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  A boy drinks soda beside the Arabian Sea in Mumbai. AP

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  At a factory in New Delhi, a worker waits to load ice blocks on to a vehicle. Reuters

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  A child plays near a paddy field on the outskirts of Gauhati, Assam state. AP

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  Men enjoy a slide at a water park in New Delhi. AFP

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  People take a dip in a wave pool at a water park in New Delhi. AFP

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  Youths use their helmets to pour water over themselves near a construction site on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Reuters

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  A labourer naps near sacks of vegetables in Jammu. AP

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  A boy bathes in the Ranbir Canal in Jammu. AP

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  A man drinks water in Allahabad. AFP

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  A woman covers her head with a plastic tub near Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers. AFP

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  Men walk over the bed of the Yamuna River in search of recyclable material in New Delhi. Reuters

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  Residents of New Delhi fill containers with water from a municipal tanker. Bloomberg