Srinagar, Aug. 19 -- There was a time when the morning landscape of Kashmir seemed inseparable from the sounds of birds. In villages and around homes, days often began with calls from sparrows, mynas, bulbuls and other familiar birds. Their presence was so ordinary that we rarely stopped to notice them.

But in recent years, at least from my observations in and around Budgam, some of these familiar sounds seem less frequent. This raises a simple but important concern: Where are our birds going?

I am not suggesting that a regional decline in bird populations has been scientifically established on the basis of these observations alone. That would require systematic surveys conducted over several years. However, changes noticed in our immed...