Flamingoes at home in western India

Thousands of beautiful pink-coloured Flamingoes have flown in and landed at numerous locations in western parts of the country here for the seasonal nesting.

By Sameer Desai

Pune, Dec.21 : Thousands of beautiful pink-coloured Flamingoes have flown in and landed at numerous locations in western parts of the country here for the seasonal nesting.

Flocks of both--Greater Flamingoes and Lesser Flamingoes--have migrated to wetlands in and around the cities of Pune, Thane, Solapur, Ahmednagar and Satara in Maharashtra.

They start arriving in the country in October and remain till April.

"Just a few days ago I saw a flock of 1,000 Greater Flamingoes at Kerwadi and another smaller flock of 250 to 300 Flamingoes at Bhigwan. Usually, these birds are local migratory birds; they breed in the Great Rann of Kutch in India near Pakistan border," said Satish Pandey, an ornithologist.

"After breeding these birds come to our area in January and February and stay here for two or three months. This year they have arrived a bit earlier. Actually this change in migration pattern is being seen in all the birds for the past few years. As per experts view, the change is due to global warming," Pandey added.

Flamingoes are powerful flyers and can easily cover over 500 kilometres at a stretch at night. Although their precise migratory route is not known, they come from central Africa via West Asia to India.

They congregate in vast numbers in the Rann of Kutch. A sizeable number of them are found in other parts of the country, including the marshy land off Sewree in Mumbai and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

In recent years, the number of migratory birds has, dwindled due to increased industrialisation, environmental degradation, global warming and climate change.

Two Flamingoes were recently shot dead in Mumbai. They were shot by hunters for the sheer thrill of shooting.

Nature lovers assert that unless the Government and NGOs take stern steps to conserve the natural habitats of these birds and ensure their well-being, the future of flamingoes is at risk.

"If we are going to modify all habitats for human use and change all water bodies for agriculture purpose and go on planting crops everywhere, these flamingoes will not be seen anymore. So conservation of habitants is needed. We should not disturb flamingoes. Recently, some of the flamingoes were killed for their flesh," noted Satish Pandey.

Bird lovers in Mumbai were outraged over the killings of the two flamingos.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on December 13 (Thursday) staged a rally to create awareness on the danger to animal life on account of hunting and excessive industrialisation leading to global warming.

lamingoes have no firm mating season. They are designed to survive in the caustic environment of a volcanic lake.

According to Nature website, Flamingoes' behaviour is difficult to explain as it is fun to watch: they dance. Posturing and signaling with their wings, bowing and bending their necks, running back and forth as a group, and then suddenly taking flight to wheel around the edges of the lake -- a crowd of dancing flamingoes is one of the strangest, most breathtaking sights in the natural world.

ANI