KATHMANDU: Twenty-six-year-old Gautam Prasad Sapkota, who hails from Garhi- 9 in Makwanpur district, today enthralled the audience at a function organised to mark the Kag Tihar here by luring hundreds of crows to flock to him through his calls.

This is the third crow festival the youth organised to 'spread the message of peace and conservation'. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala was all praise for his art of mimicking the birds' calls in the ministry premises.

Popularly known as Chari Dada, Gautam imitated the calls of birds ranging from lophophorus, crane to five species of crow on the occasion. He also sang songs to the calls of cat, lophophorus, crane and frog.

Hearing his call, crows in large numbers flew to the venue and perched on nearby trees. The fan of crows has dedicated himself to the art for the past five years. Gautam can imitate the sounds of 175 birds and seven animals. He said he was gradually learning to charm the crows.

Gautam aspires to make his entry to the Guinness Book of World Records and work in the field of conservation thereafter. Minister Koirala pledged support to him for the purpose and wished him the best in his endeavour. "All I need, to obtain Claim ID from World Records Academy, is Rs 100,000," Gautam, who has been running from pillar to post to arrange for he sum, said.

Threatening to disrupt the foreign visits of Prime Minister and other high ranking officials by summoning hundreds of crows at the Tribhuvan International Airport to halt flights, he pressed the government to pay heed to his demand.