Avinash Bhagat, an avid birder, said that as of now there were reports of less than 200 flamingos being sighted in the Thane creek
Mumbaikars and birdwatchers are puzzled over the much delay in the arrival of flamingos, which are Mumbai's most awaited guests during winters and are known to normally arrive in thousands in and around the wetlands of Mumbai by November.
Avinash Bhagat, an avid birder, said that as of now there were reports of less than 200 flamingos being sighted in the Thane creek. "This batch has very few flamingos and more of greater flamingos and most of them fly over towards Navi Mumbai during high tide." He said huge flocks of the pink feathered birds can be seen in Thane creek, Mahul, Sewri and other wetlands. Bhagat said there have been no flamingos sighting in Sewri.
The birder said that a huge number of flamingos left the city quite late than usual and that could be one of the possible reasons for this year's delay. "Normally flamingos leave by June but last year they left by August and this might have ended up delaying their nesting cycle as well and caused a complete delay in the migration cycle as the young ones need to grow up fully to migrate. We can expect that the bigger flocks to begin arriving by January end or February," he said.
Naturalist Dr Parvish Pandya, who is also the Vice Principal of Bhavan's College, said that flamingo migration has not been studied and only a study on various parameters of migration could help understand the reasons for the delay. "There are various factors from delay in nesting to delayed hatchings to even availability of food that can affect migration."
Out of curiosity, Pandya said he even called up birders from Gujarat and found out that the flamingos haven't arrived at Nal Sarovar near Ahmedabad too. The birds travel from Kutch to Mumbai.
As per Pandya birdwatchers from Mumbai who has gone to Baroda or even the birding hotspot like Bigwan in Maharashtra informed that they only saw 100 odd birds whereas last year by this time there used to thousands of flamingos.
Meanwhile birders also said that delay in arrival of flamingos was nothing new as there have been years when the migration was delayed, infact during the winters of 2006, flamingos did not turn up till March next year.
FLAMINGO INFORMATION:
- The name flamingo comes from Latin word for flame or fire.
- They are referred to locally by many names – Rohit or Raktak in Marathi, agni pankh in Hindi.
- The pink colour in their plumage is due to the beta -carotene rich food in the form of blue green algae and shrimps. In zoos, flamingo food is often mixed with carrots that contain this pigment to retain their colour.
- There are two species of flamingos – the greater flamingo and lesser flamingo.
- Ninety five per cent of the flamingos that come to Mumbai are lesser flamingos.
- Greater flamingos are taller, with black-tipped grey beak, whitish eyes and whiter in body colour. Their neck is in a perfect S-shape.
- Lesser flamingos are comparatively smaller, more pink with dark beaks and red eyes. Their neck is inverted (J-shaped).
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