BNHS-tagged bird returns to city’s warmer climes after five-month winter break in Siberia

NAVI MUMBAI: A Black-tailed Godwit migratory bird which was tagged with a GPS device in Mumbai in March was traced in the cold climes of South-Western Siberia by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in June

NAVI MUMBAI: A Black-tailed Godwit migratory bird which was tagged with a GPS device in Mumbai in March was traced in the cold climes of South-Western Siberia by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) in June. Now, the winged visitor is back at the Bhandup pumping station after a winter break. In April, the bird left the city and it returned after five months, taking a five-day flight. This proves the birds’ site fidelity, meaning returning to the same site that they are used to. The bird was christened ‘Bala’, after researcher Dr D Balachandran.

BNHS-tagged bird returns to city’s warmer climes after five-month winter break in Siberia

“Migratory birds are undeclared brand ambassadors of the environment and they convey the message of prevailing biodiversity in the areas that they land,” said BN Kumar, director NatConnect Foundation.

“It is therefore important to conserve their destinations, namely the wetlands in Mumbai Metropolitan Region,” added Kumar, who has been campaigning to save the wetlands of Navi Mumbai.

“The entire flight pattern of Bala is being studied now by BNHS and will come out with a full report shortly,’’ said the organisation’s deputy director Dr Rahul Khot.

Dr Balachandran is a senior scientist with over four decades of study at various destinations such as Chilka in Odisha and Bharatpur in Rajasthan.

BNHS deployed six GPS/GSM tags on three greater and three lesser flamingos between January and April 2022 to understand the flamingo migration. Three flamingos have now returned to Gujarat.

BNHS has been conducting long-term ecological monitoring of migratory birds visiting Thane Creek since 2017. To understand wintering birds’ habitat use and migration patterns, the researchers deployed bird rings and colour flags at sites around Thane Creek. So far, around 21,000 birds have been ringed and flagged, and BNHS has been able to get resights within India and from other countries.

Tracking migratory birds

‘Humayun’, a Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor) equipped with GSM tag and leg band ‘ALD’ at Navi Mumbai on April 19, 2022, migrated back to Bhavnagar, Gujarat on June 30 2022. Named after ornithologist and one of the stalwarts of BNHS, Humayun Addulali, the bird is located in wetlands along Nawa Bandar Road, which leads to Bhavnagar Port.

‘Salim’ (’ASR’ leg band), named after veteran ornithologist Dr Salim Ali, has reached wetlands near Ghogha town in Bhavnagar district of Gujarat. It took a non-stop flight from the wetland near Vashi on July 6 2022 at 4.57 PM, flew over Dahanu and reached Ghogha Beach on July 7, 2022 at 9.25am. It took 16.28 hrs to cover the 300km journey.

‘McCann’, a juvenile greater flamingo named after Charles MaCann (1899-1980), former assistant curator of BNHS, a naturalist and writer, left the shores of Mumbai on July 14 evening and landed near Ghogha in Gujarat in the morning of July 15 2022. It took 15.45 hrs to cover the 300 km journey. It is the third GPS/GSM-tagged bird reaching Gujrat from Mumbai.

‘Lester’, a subadult greater flamingo named after naturalist and ornithologist Captain C.D. Lester left the shores of Mumbai on 21 July evening and landed in LRK in Gujarat on the night of 22 July 2022. It took 25 hrs to cover ~500 km. Its flight path is similar to ‘Humayun.’

Lester started its journey from Bhandup Pumping Station on July 21 2022 at 21.29; it reached Narbad in Gujarat on 22 July 2022 at 06.30. It took an 11.33 hours stopover near Narbad before flying to Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary at Little Rann of Kutch. Currently, the bird is located near Zinzuwada town. It is the fourth GPS/GSM-tagged bird reaching Gujrat from Mumbai.

‘Khengarji III’ an adult greater flamingo named after Khengarji III of Kutch left the shores of Mumbai on August 2 night and landed in LRK in Gujarat on the evening of August 2, 2022. It took 22 hours to cover 500 km. It is the fifth GPS/GSM-tagged bird reaching Gujarat from Mumbai, and the second to reach LRK.

“Navi Mumbai is the sixth juvenile Lesser Flamingo has shown the local movement in Thane Creek but the data so far received is inconclusive. “We feel it has reached the breeding ground and we will get the full picture once it returns to Thane Creek in the coming months,” Dr Khot said.