DO YOU GIVE A FIG

The Drastic Decline of Earth's Bird Population

Ipakshi was born of a passion for the celebration and preservation of birds — not only for the wonder they bring, but for the pivotal role they play within the ecosystems that sustain all of us.

Birds are nature's earliest warning system. When they disappear, something has gone wrong long before we notice it by any other measure. The question is whether we are paying attention.

Why focus on the fig?

The Helmeted Hornbill is happiest eating figs. This makes it a reliable indicator of forest health — it will only reside in the most abundant and pristine lowland tropical rainforests. Where the Helmeted Hornbill is found, the forest is thriving. Where it has gone, something has been lost that will take generations to recover.

Far be it from them to merely consume. Their appetite for fruit makes them valuable seed dispersers, extending and perpetuating the forests in which they live. Without this organic seed distribution, the forest thins. The fruit becomes less abundant. The consequences travel further than we expect.

Somewhat blinded by the pleasure birds bring — their beauty, their flight, their song — the eye can fail to see the scale of what depends on their presence. As we have slowly grasped the consequences of declining bee populations, we are forced to the realisation that bees are not the only winged creatures to which our ecology owes an enormous debt.

The scale of what is at stake

Fewer than 100 Helmeted Hornbills are estimated to remain in Thailand. The species is critically endangered globally. Its casque — the solid keratin helmet that makes it unlike any other bird on earth — is poached for the illegal wildlife trade, fetching high prices in markets that value it as a substitute for ivory. The forests it depends on are shrinking. The bird is running out of places to be.

Ipakshi's partnership with BirdLife International supports active conservation work for the species. A portion of every Helmeted Hornbill collection purchase contributes directly to that work.

The question in the title is not rhetorical.