As billions of birds feather for migration, more than 400 species congregate in the Indian subcontinent, one of nature’s greatest spectacles. where can you see them?
As billions of birds feather for migration, more than 400 species congregate in the Indian subcontinent, one of nature’s greatest spectacles. where can you see them?
Last month, for the first time from across the country, bird watchers gathered in Bhuj in Gujarat’s Kutch district. They documented eight birds – the European roller, red-backed and red-tailed shrew, spotted flycatcher, rufous-tailed scrub-robin, Greater White Throat, common cuckoo, and blue-cheeked bee-eater – that lived during mid to marathon flights. Later landed in Gujarat. Asia and Europe.
“These birds, called pass migrants, take a short break to rest and rejuvenate in western India before crossing the Indian Ocean,” says P Jaganathan of the Tamil Birders Network, who participated in the survey. One can catch a glimpse of these birds only during this small window at the stopover.
More than 400 species of migratory birds are reported to have arrived in India at this time of the year, marking the beginning of migration. They have nine flyways around the world (including the Central Asian Flyway which cover 30 countries along with India) and take some unusual routes during this flight. “It is an exciting time as many incredibly beautiful birds pass through India, and many stay here for the winter,” says Ashwin Viswanathan, a scientist at Bird Count India, Bengaluru.
Two weeks ago, after flying thousands of kilometers through the mountains of Central Asia, the Green Warrior reached Bengaluru. “The ash drongos that breed in the Himalayas have started arriving. I am looking forward to seeing flycatchers next week,” says Ashwin.
In Chennai, water birds are the first to arrive and can be seen around Pallikaranai, Sholinganallur Marsh, Kelambakkam and Pulicat.
“We encounter different types of migratory birds in different habitats,” says Arvind AM, a birdwatcher from Chennai who documents bird behavior on his YouTube channel Ninglam Agalam Birdwatcher. “Many small birds of various sizes can be found at the edge of the wetland – these are grouped as waders and many of them come to us. Sandpipers that arrive much earlier include the wooden sandpiper and the common sandpiper shallow are easily found in water bodies,” he added.
Bar-tailed Godwit | Photo Credit: Col. Pankaj Sharma (Retd)
Chennai also finds species like the Yellow Wagtail, Citrine Wagtail and White-Wagtail which can be seen in Pallikaranai Marsh (Marshland Park and Radial Road), Sholinganallur or Perumbakkam Marsh near Mohamed Sathak College.
Shrubs, even in urban gardens, are home to migratory warblers, which are light brown birds, slightly smaller than the common mynah. “If you hear a sharp ‘check check’ call in your garden right now, it could be Blythe’s reed-warbler,” says Arvind, adding that several flycatcher species such as the Asiatic brown, blue-throated blue flycatcher, Tour of Tickell’s blue flycatcher and the fascinating Indian paradise flycatcher Chennai.
In Delhi, shore birds such as Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Ringed Plover, Forest Wagtail and Indian Blue Robin have been sighted in the NCR and around Sultanpur National Park. “These birds are migrating to Kerala from their summer habitat in Jammu and Kashmir. This year, we are seeing an early movement, probably due to early winters in Europe,” says Colonel Pankaj Sharma (retd), who runs Indian Birds on Facebook, which has 2.7 lakh members.
As birds migrate along ancient routes, scientists are using high-tech tools such as bird ringing, radio tracking, GPS tracking and satellite telemetry to study their amazing journeys. Recently, a Pallid Harrier, a Raptor, was satellite tagged and its route monitored. The bird traveled 6,000 km and went to Russia.
gray wagtail | photo credit: T Arulvelan
Organizations such as the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) have been pioneers in studying the migration of birds since the 1920s under the leadership of the late Dr. Salim Ali, a birdman from India. This year, the flight path of the black-tailed godwit Bala, named after renowned expert on bird migration, S Balachandran, was tracked by the BNHS using a GPS device.
In April, the bird sailed from Mumbai to south-western Siberia (a distance of 5,000 km in 47 days) and came back five months later, covering a distance of 4,200 km, flying for five days. “This proves the fidelity of the birds’ site (returning to the same site where they are used to). We can use the data to learn more about routes, stoppage sites, the countries they are in,” says BNHS scientist S Sivakumar. where they have gone and come up with an action plan towards conservation.”
With the traditional ringing method, the recovery rate is poor: seven million birds are ringed, the recovery rate is only 3,500 birds. Satellite telemetry, although a costly affair, helps to track accurate, real-time data.
“Earlier, ringed birds were recovered from Bharatpur, Point Calimere or Chilka and reported by birding societies in Central Asia or European countries. Similarly, there were reports of birds coming back from Siberia or the Arctic regions. Most of the coast birds that breed in the Arctic come to tropical countries like India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and some migrate to Africa,” says Ramesh Kumar of BNHS.
Shivakumar says the role of citizen science forums, especially the contribution on e-bird forums, has been huge and significant. S Balachandran, scientist and deputy director of BNHS in Kanyakumari, who has been documenting coastal birds in Rameswaram, Pulicat in Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra, Manipur and West Bengal for four decades, says that during the annual migration, shore birds 45 species of species including black-tailed godwits, ducks, geese and flamingos come to India from July. “The shore birds are long-distance migrants from the Arctic. During October to March, you can see millions of small hamlets in the Kodikkarai Sanctuary.
where to see them?
Nanjarayan Tank Bird Sanctuary in Tiruppur recorded a lone broad-billed sandpiper, which was first sighted in an inland water body in the state. The bird winters in the coastal region of the eastern part of Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
BR Mahesh of the Dharapuram Nature Society in Koduvai has spotted the ruddy standstone, a rare visitor from northern Europe, at the Uppar Dam. It winters in coastal areas like Point Calimere, Kanyakumari, Tiruchendur and Rameswaram
Various species of gulls and terns are found mainly along the coast in Pazhavarkadu (Pulicut) lake and Adyar estuary in Chennai. The Indian gall and forest wagtail, although not common, can be found walking along the forest floor, searching for insects under leaf litter. Forest complexes such as Guindy National Park, IIT, and other complexes around the Theosophical Society, Nanmangalam Reserve Forest, Tambaram, small woodland patches along the ECR can be seen. Permission may be required to visit some of these places.
Birds like Angeline Mano, a nature educator with the Salem Ornithological Foundation, look forward to the flurry of bird movement. It plans to cover over 300 wetlands in Salem and parts of the Eastern Ghats.
“We saw four gray wagtails at Yercaud and a common sandpiper at Stanley Reservoir in Salem, indicating the arrival of the first two winter visitors. Migratory birds do not breed here, they come for food and to survive the harsh winters. We create awareness on these aspects.”
At Valparai, a hill station in the Anamalai mountain range of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, the arrival of the gray wagtail, a migratory bird from the Himalayas, is celebrated by distributing sweets and with posters packing information on the slender, gray bird. “For the past seven years, the bird has kept its date with Valparai, indicating a thriving, healthy ecosystem here,” says K Selvaganesh, a birdwatcher and educator.