With the onset of winters, the migratory birds have started flocking to Chandigarh’s Sukhna lake and water bodies in Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.
The regular winged guests to the city namely Ruddy Shelducks, White-Eyed Pochards, Common Pochards, Ferruginous Pochards, Tufted Ducks, Greylag Goose among others have arrived here to enjoy their annual winter date with the city.
So far, about 7-9 species of migratory birds have reached here. The numbers of migratory birds’ species are likely to pick up in the coming weeks.
While talking to The Pioneer, Narbir Kahlon, vice-president of city based Avian Habitat and Wetland Society (AHWS) said, “The migratory species sighted here
were Gadwals, Northern Shovellers, Common Pochards, Ferruginous Pochards, Ruddy Shelducks, Northern Pintails as well as few Greylag Goose. Waders including the Pied Avocet, Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Temminck’s Stint, little Stint were also spotted in nearby areas of the city.”
Besides the water bird species, other migratory birds have also started arriving in the city from upper Himalayan region.
The avian enthusiast said, “Apart from the more visible waterfowl, we have a number of other wintering species arriving here…While some of them are Plearctic migrants, others are Altitudinal migrants and as it gets colder, their numbers will increase in Chandigarh.”
“These birds migrate from the upper Himalayan regions to the foothills and adjoining plains. Wintering species seen since October here
include the Black Redstart, Common Starling, Himalayan Rubythroat, Bluethroat, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Canary Flycatcher, White-throated Flycatcher, Humes Warbler, Common Chiff Chaff, lesser Whitethroat, White Wagtails, Yellow Wagtail, Eurasian Wryneck, Variable Wheatear to name a few,” said Narbir.
He informed that some other birds were noticed in late September and October while on passage through the region and these included the European Roller, Red-headed Bunting and the Blyth’s Reed warbler.
As the winds change across the Eurasian continent and autumn sets in across the Palearctic region, birds start migrating to warmer regions.
Variation in daylight hours, availability of food, temperature and favorable winds are the factors responsible for migration of birds, who take formidable risks while undertaking the annual migration to their wintering grounds. Chandigarh is on the flight path of some of these migratory birds and while some of them stay during winter here, others are seen only on passage, added Narbir.
Meanwhile, with the arrival of migratory birds in the City Beautiful, the UT Forest and Wildlife Department has stepped up its efforts to provide a safe habitat to them and has asked the forest officials to keep vigil on the activities like poaching and human feeding, which are harmful for migratory birds.
Notably, the waterfowl census conducted on February 2, 2014 had showed sharp decline in water bird species at Sukhna lake and Sukhna Reserve Forest as compared to the previous year.
Fourteen species of migratory birds were recorded during the waterfowl census conducted by AHWS and UT Forest and Wildlife Department. During the waterfowl census, a total number of 585 birds of resident and migratory species were sighted.
In 2013, the total number of birds recorded were 806 birds while over 1500 birds were recorded in the previous year.
Over thousands of winged guests are making their abode at water bodies in the city every winter for over 26 years now. The migratory birds reach Chandigarh every year by mid-November from Siberia, Central Asia, China, Afghanistan and the upper Himalayas and their stay lasts till March or April.