Around 1,000 migratory ducks have arrived in Mumbai from Central Asia, delighting the bird-watching community and validating claims of the area being a natural wetland.
Mumbai: It is that time of the year when avian beauties from faraway lands come to the city in search of warmer climes and food. Around 1,000 migratory ducks have arrived in NRI wetlands from Central Asia crossing more than 10,000 km to escape the harsh winters.
Navi Mumbai’s bird-watching community is beaming with excitement to catch a glimpse of these ducks along the creekside of Nerul where they usually spot flamingoes. Experts said these ducks have arrived after a gap of two years and this time, they came in large numbers. They started their journey in mid-October to India, which is their wintering grounds.
“The ducks have arrived after almost two years and this time they are coming in large numbers. These are migratory birds flying all the way from Central Asia so their arrival is a delight amongst the birding community. There are many varieties found in these ducks which are Northern Shovelers and Northern Pintails both sighted during the winter season,” said bird-watcher Seema Tania.
Tania has been recording migratory birds and uploading the data onto birding websites. “I keep documenting such sightings as these are used for research purposes. Ducks are on the lookout for shallow water and for algae as post-breeding they are on the lookout for food and they seem to be getting this from the wetland in the city,” adds Tania.
For environmentalists, the arrival of the ducks is no less than a celebration as this is opined to be validating their claims of the area being a natural wetland. “The elements trying to usurp this area for commercial interests should understand that the area is a natural water body and therefore attracting several migratory birds like these ducks,” said resident activist Sunil Agarwal.
The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) terms the arrival of the ducks to be a part of the rich flora and fauna of the wetlands.
The society conducts regular bird-watching trails and attributes of finding many more species of birds.
“There is more to the wetlands than just the flamingos. In fact, during the Sunday bird-watching trail we sighted species like the kingfishers, black-headed Ibis which is an endangered species, and purple and grey heron. There are at least 4 species of ducks presently which can be sighted. Flamingos start making their presence towards Mid November and December but the remaining birds keep coming during,” said Asif Khan from the programmes department of BNHS.
Source : Hindustantimes
