Winged visitors give Mumbai the miss as wetlands shrink……Simit Bhagat
Mumbai: The number of migratory birds that visit the city from various parts of the country is on the decline.Winged guests like flamingos,plovers,sandpipers,storks are increasingly giving Mumbai the miss.Even long-distance migrant avians,including the godwits,are figuring in the rarely-spotted category.
These are some of the findings of the latest study,State of the Worlds Water Birds 2010,by Wetlands International.According to the assessment by the organization,the population status of water birds in Asia is plummeting alarmingly.Nearly 62% of the total water birds in the continent have seen a drop in their numbers with some of them now believed to be extinct.
Dr Girish Jathar,an expert who has closely studied the wetlands of Mumbai,said,It is a matter of concern that that birds that migrate to the city in winters are now slowly doing the disappearing act.Areas that host these migratory beauties have to be conserved if we want to tackle the situation.
If bird-watchers are to be believed,the migratory pattern too is becoming erratic since the last five years.”Some birds that migrated to the city used to return to their breeding grounds in March.But now we have been noticing that many of them stay in the city all year long.Though this may seem like a positive development,we feel that it is an indication that their habitats are being tampered with,”an expert said.A case in point is the migratory pattern of the Bar-tailed Godwit.The bird is believed to migrate across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to New Zealand,a non-stop flight of 11,000 km that takes eight days.During the return journey,the bird,also found in Mumbai,takes refuge in verdant and food-rich sites.But since many of these wetlands are under threat,the species is threatened, another expert said.
Mumbai has already lost one of its prime wetlands like Uran to an SEZ project.And now the government is planning the second airport in the lush areas of Navi Mumbai.Its high time we halt and reverse the destruction of wetlands, said Dr Jathar.
But theres hope.If wetlands are managed properly with help from locals,there is still a possibility that we can revive the population of the feathered friends included in the threatened category.We just have to put in more efforts, said Adesh Shivkar,a city-based naturalist and a bird watcher.
FEATHERED FRIENDS IN FAREWELL MODE
* Some of the water bird species under threat include:
* White stork (Ciconia ciconia): The white and black migratory bird with a striking red beak has all but disappered due to encroachment around the wetlands
* Northern shoveller (Anas clypeata): Part of the waterfowl family,these birds are usually seen in marshes near Uran
* Common redshank (Tringa totanus): This species usually breeds in Kashmir and Ladakh and visits Mumbai in the winter.It can be identified by its loud piping call
* Black tailed godwit (Limosa limosa): This large wading bird is found in flocks on the mudflats near Sewri