The question in the minds of every bird enthusiast and of those who are curious is ... Does birds commit suicide?

Birds come in hundreds to Jatinga and die. Birds are trapped by bird fighting at Jatinga. They are attracted by artificial lights on dark moonless nights and are either killed or trapped. A similar light phenomenon occurs in the Philipines in about the same time and in similar climatic conditions i.e. on foggy, windy and moonless nights.
While most of the birds are trapped with what they call "Tawang" in the Philippines are supposed to be migrants, those at Jatinga are not necessarily so. True, the villagers of Jatinga killed the birds for their table. But they treated it as a sport. The villagers do not betray any sense of guilt. They had countered our shocked disbelief by asking point blank : "Don't you kill fish in the plains in a similar manner with the years first flood? They considered the coming of the birds to be a gift of the Gods.

Birds come in large numbers from August to October on foggy, moonless nights. Even in July and November birds appear, but in decidedly fewer numbers. The time of the phenomenon occuring coincides with that of migration. This valley falls on the migratory route of locally migrating birds. That is how villagers get the oppurtunity to trap them. But still these birds come here every year and get trapped.