various fruit nuts and seeds and dwell in trees and occupy a variety of wooded habitats these birds rarely come on the ground like other pigeonsalthough birders dont know when hariyal was declared a state bird or why it was chosen the controversy has led to a strong feeling that now steps should be taken to conserve the bird city birder tarun balpande says retaining hariyal as a state bird is a positive move however it is facing threat from poachers belonging to the pardhi community the bird is hunted for meat and sold for rs 100 a pair besides it is also exported to nepal as an exotic bird the state bird should be protected by the state government and bnhs also needs take initiativeson poor sightings balpande says the bird may be on decline but sightings are still there in rural areas where there are plenty of banyan and pipal trees two months ago i sighted a flock of 30 green pigeons in paradgaon 30km from nagpur and 15 birds in vnit campus he says among the other threats to green pigeon include excessive use of pesticides destruction of fruitbearing trees in road widening and rampant construction activity in the city all this has led to habitat destruction says naturalist kundan hate who has written an information book in marathi on birds specifically for the forest workershate adds declaring any specie as state animal or bird doesnt help in its protection it needs specific measures take for example the endangered sarus crane he says the bird is endangered in maharashtra but is widespread in uttar pradesh it is also the state bird of up this means that a bird which is beautiful and commonly found is the state bird of any statekyc of green pigeonbreeding habits the hariyal lays eggs in january which hatch after 2125 days during this period the male takes care of the food and remains near the nest the female also never leaves and comes out for sunning from 7 to 8am in march the chicks start moving outspot them the hariyal forage in flocks they can be seen in the early mornings basking in the sun on top of fruitbearing trees sightings in monsoon are rare unlike other pigeons they rarely come on the groundcolour source the hariyal gets its colour from a carotenoid pigment in their diet which usually is various fruit nuts and seeds