The annual migration of birds from the northern hemisphere to the Indian subcontinent has begun

Our seasonal guests, in the millions, have arrived after marathon flights across continents. Birds from 29 countries fly to India every year at this time, an annual ritual that marks the beginning of migration.

The stint, a bird that weighs about 20 grams, makes an astonishing 8,000 km journey from Siberia to Point Calimere in Tamil Nadu. The forested areas of the Indian peninsula are full of warriors, a discreet olive green bird that flies thousands of kilometers from the mountains of Central Asia. The bar-tailed godwits, after spending their summer in Russia, will soon begin a long non-stop flight to spend the winter in shallow water bodies in Pulicat and Sholinganallur.

As daylight hours shorten and the food supply at breeding sites in the Northern Hemisphere decreases, birds begin to migrate south to wintering sites. “It is a natural process of survival. They take nine flyways around the world and some unusual routes during this flight,” says scientist S Shivakumar of the Bombay Natural History Society. “The Central Asian Flyway including India,” he says. Covers 30 countries.Black-headed, brown-headed and slender eagles have arrived, mostly from Europe and Central Asia.

In Chennai, vedder birds are the first to arrive, and can be seen around Pallikaranai, Sholinganallur Marsh, Kelambakkam and Pulicat. “Wood sandpipers are the most common, followed by common sandpipers, which can be identified by the clear C-shaped marking in white near their wings. These birds pass through shallow water, and as many as hundreds each year Come,” says Arvind AM, a bird in Chennai.

Ashwin Viswanathan of Bird Count India, Bangalore says, “Our special guests can easily be seen on the trees or in the wooded area. Bird Count India supports bird inventory and monitoring across India. “The gray wagtails have arrived. I noticed a blue-tailed bee eater (which breeds in north and central India) calling and migrating as it moves south. Most birds migrate at night. If you go to a forest field or a garden near the house, you see a new bird every day, because it stays there after flying all night,” he adds.

During winters, we see swarms of swallows either sitting on power lines or making super rapid circular flights, not only over water bodies, but also on busy traffic roads in many parts of Chennai. “Not many are aware that these are migratory birds that have come from Europe and Central Asia. Small dull brown birds called warblers and species such as the Blythe’s reed warbler and the booted warbler even around the bushes or trees around our homes can be seen, even in busy neighbourhoods,” says Arvind.

Many birders have observed unusual sightings. For example, Amur falcons made a stop in Pune in large numbers in January, and during the last week of September the red-necked phalarope, a pelagic bird, appeared at the Upper Dam in Dharapuram, a non-coastal area. These are some of the favorite places of birds, says Bengaluru-based wildlife photographer Ramakrishnan Ayyaswamy. “They choose their location based on the availability of food and how long they can stay there. They also have a plan B, and if their native habitat is disturbed, they choose another water body in the vicinity. As long as birds keep up to date with migration, birds are happy because it indicates a healthy environment and a safe habitat.

“In Tamil Nadu, we saw a European bee-eater near Ponnuthu Hills in Coimbatore. Although it was considered a migratory migrant, recent studies and regular monitoring in Erode and Salem have proved that Tamil Nadu has a winter population of bee-eaters,” said K Selvaganesh, a birdwatcher and educator at Valparai near Coimbatore. Says. “We are waiting to meet the brown tremors coming from Mongolian territory. Every year we see two birds in our school premises in Valparai. It falls by the first week of October. We see over 30 migratory species here during the migration season.”

During this time, some birds such as the European roller, the rufous-tailed scrub robin and the common white-throated, called route migrants, migrate from Rajasthan, Gujarat and other parts of the Indian peninsula to cross the Arabian Sea. They migrate to Africa by mid-October to spend the winter there. “This time of year is attractive to bird watchers because many incredibly beautiful birds pass through the Indian subcontinent to travel elsewhere. Birders in Delhi can now see green warbler (from Europe), Blyth’s reed warbler (from Europe and Russia) and rusty flycatcher (from Kashmir and Himachal) passing by, as the birds move south, says Ashwin.

The common stonechat, a chunky little bird from Siberia and Turkey, has migrated to Delhi, says Col. Pankaj Sharma (retired) who runs Indian Birds on Facebook, the largest online community on birds in the Indian subcontinent. There are lakhs of members. “Bar-headed geese, northern shrews, and pigtails from the duck family will arrive early because the wetlands have already been filled due to rain in September. I look forward to the endangered steppe eagle landing from Europe. These birds are found in the Aravalli Range of Gurgaon. and can be seen in the adjoining areas of Jhajjar district of Haryana. Mumbai-based wildlife photographer Asim Kothiala recorded the Red Knot in Jamnagar. “It breeds in Siberia and travels 16,000 km twice a year. Right now, the white-winged tern can be seen in Mumbai. In Kutch and Ahmedabad, rufous-tailed scrub robin, red-tailed shrek, red-backed shrek, European roller, European nightjar and a few other species can be seen. The reverse migration happens from January onwards,” says Asim.

Although birds have been undertaking these long journeys for millions of years, Aravind says small changes in trends can be seen through sites such as the eBird database and Migrant Watch. “Siberian storks, which are critically endangered, visited the Bharatpur sanctuary about 20 years ago, but we no longer see them because the population that traveled to India has become extinct.”

new course charting

Ashwin, who put together animation maps on migration based on data uploaded to citizen science platform eBird, agrees. “There are doubts about how birds may react to changes in climate. Bird species such as the yellow-brown warbler and Richard’s pipit migrated to Northeast India, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. Now, they are a new migrant. Descending in Western Europe en route. There is a documented change in the pattern. ”

Research satellites track birds using tags and this reveals knowledge on individual birds and their migration routes. “We shoveled the northern at Manjira Wildlife Sanctuary in Telangana, and tracked its flight to Russia,” says Shivakumar, and adds, “The migration is a long, tiring journey. Global warming is real. Rain is inconsistent. Wetlands is drying up. Globally, some changes have already been observed in the breeding ranges of birds. We have to conserve our wetlands to ensure that food is available for visitors. They can gain weight and over time can go back to their breeding site and bring up a healthy offspring.”