Birds and their associated medicinal plants: a conservation aspect

Populations of medicinal plants are declining everywhere due to many reasons, including overexploitation, deforestation, climate change, a lack of pollinators, urbanisation, etc. Among all causes, lack of pollinators is also an important aspect. Fewer reports are available, and people are not aware of this aspect. The most common biological pollinators of medicinal plants are insects, wasps, butterflies, moths, and birds. Due to urbanisation and overhunting, the pollinator bird population is declining. Birds also play an important role in seed dispersal. Keeping in mind the importance of birds and after observation of many threats, an attempt has been made to enumerate some common birds and their associated medicinal plants. Survey work was done near the Mahanadi River areas of Cuttack district, Odisha, and Jamtara district, Jharkhand, and enumerated 25 birds and their associated medicinal plants. Details are presented in the chapter, along with photographs. The chapter highlights the importance of plants for birds and vice versa