Jatinga
title: "Jatinga" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-dima-hasao-district", "tourism-in-assam", "tourism-in-northeast-india"] topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatinga" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Jatinga |
| settlement_type | village |
| pushpin_map | India Assam#India |
| pushpin_label_position | right |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location in Assam, India |
| coordinates | |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | India |
| subdivision_type1 | State |
| subdivision_name1 | Assam |
| subdivision_type2 | District |
| subdivision_name2 | Dima Hasao |
| governing_body | Dima Hasao, Jatinga Constituency |
| unit_pref | Metric |
| elevation_footnotes | 600meter above sea level. |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| demographics_type1 | Languages |
| demographics1_title1 | Official |
| demographics1_info1 | Pnar |
| :: |
| name = Jatinga | other_name = | nickname = | settlement_type = village | image_skyline = | image_alt = | image_caption = | pushpin_map = India Assam#India | pushpin_label_position = right | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Assam, India | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = India | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Assam | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Dima Hasao | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | named_for = | government_type = | governing_body = Dima Hasao, Jatinga Constituency | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_rank = | area_total_km2 = | elevation_footnotes = 600meter above sea level. | elevation_m = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_rank = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_footnotes = | demographics_type1 = Languages | demographics1_title1 = Official | demographics1_info1 = Pnar Jatinga (), a village on a ridge, is located in Dima Hasao district, Assam, India. It is 330 km south of Guwahati The village is inhabited by about 2,500 Khasi people. It is well known for being the location of mysterious bird deaths.
Mysterious bird deaths
At the end of the monsoon months especially on moonless and foggy dark nights between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m usually in the months of September and October, birds are not disturbed by the locals but out of the dark northern skies will start to descend as they are attracted to lights. These dazed birds are captured using bamboo poles by the locals.{{cite web |url=http://nchills.gov.in/NCHILLS-JATINGA.htm |title=Jatinga Bird Mystery |accessdate=9 July 2007 |publisher=District Government of Region of North Cachar Hills |archive-date=8 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608070637/http://nchills.gov.in/NCHILLS-JATINGA.htm |url-status=dead |url=http://www.assam-tourism.com/jatinga.htm |title=Assam Tourism: Jatinga |accessdate=14 January 2009 |publisher=Assam Tourism Travel Guide |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619095805/http://www.assam-tourism.com/jatinga.htm |archivedate=19 June 2009
The late naturalist E. P. Gee brought this phenomenon to global attention in the 1960s. He drove to Jatinga with famed ornithologist Salim Ali. The cause of it is likely to be disorientation at high altitudes and high speed winds due to the widespread fog characteristic at the time. The zoological survey of India sent Sudhir Sengupta to unravel this mystery. The most recent description of the phenomenon and its comparison with similar incidents elsewhere in Malaysia, Philippines, and Mizoram is found in the book The Birds of Assam by Anwaruddin Choudhury. He concluded that the birds, mostly juveniles and local migrants, are disturbed by high velocity winds at their roost. When the disturbed birds fly towards lights as refuge they are hit with bamboo poles and killed or injured.
Conservation groups and wildlife officials in India have taken steps to prevent wanton killing of birds across India. Bikash Brahma, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests of Dima Hasao, stated the killings as well as the number of birds arriving at the village has been declining gradually since the last few years. Much of this is due to loss of habitat caused by "development and environment degradation".
References
References
- Choudhury, A. U. (7 September 1986). "Bird killing at Jatinga", ''The Sentinel''.
- (27 July 2015). "Fewer birds at Jatinga". The Statesman.
- Gee, E. P. (1964). ''The Wild Life of India'', Collins, London.
- (20 July 2015). "Birds decreasing in Jatinga 'suicide spot'". [[The Statesman (India).
- Choudhury, Anwaruddin U. (2000). ''The Birds of Assam''. Gibbon Books & WWF-India, Guwahati. 240 pp.
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