E-Paper
New migratory birds flock to Sangam
IT'S SURPRISING, but true. The young ones guide thousands of migratory birds as far as from Ladakh, Tibet, China and Siberia to the holy city of Allahabad every year. But when they fly back, the female birds lead the entire flock. But, nothing concrete has been discovered what guides the young ones to such far off places even when it is their first trip to an unknown place.
IT'S SURPRISING, but true. The young ones guide thousands of migratory birds as far as from Ladakh, Tibet, China and Siberia to the holy city of Allahabad every year.
But when they fly back, the female birds lead the entire flock.
But, nothing concrete has been discovered what guides the young ones to such far off places even when it is their first trip to an unknown place.
"It is really strange that how the young ones are able to guide the group," said assistant conservator of Forests DP Gupta, according to observations of ornithologists.
Gupta further explained about some species of the birds, which can easily be espied this winter in the Sangam area.
The bird lovers can encounter Whistling Teal or Lesser Whistling Duck here. The peculiarity of these birds is that they produce whistling sound while flying.
Sound is also produced from their wings. A small bird has white chest, brown wings, black tail with brown beak.
And the centre of the crown is dark brown. The adult whistling teal birds are 42 cm in length.
Besides these birds, the bird lovers can also sight pintails in the area. These birds are larger in size than the whistling teal.
"These long-necked and small-headed ducks fly with a curved black pointed wings and a tapering tail. This is how one can distinguish these birds from other ducks", said Gupta.
These migratory birds arrive here in November-end and fly back by the end of February, he says.
It is also said that normally these birds feed on insects but when they come to Sangam area, they survive on edibles thrown by tourists and pilgrims.
Yet another species, black-headed gulls, can be seen in large numbers.
"It has been observed that the birds of this species are regular visitors here in the winter season.
The uniqueness of these birds is that colour of the head changes with the passage of time. It changes from white to grey then dark grey and ultimately black. The colour of their wings is black from inside and white from outside.
These birds are human-friendly and can be seen sitting on boats also occupied by the pilgrims and tourists.
Another species, cormorant, which is black in colour, has also been attracting a large number of people in Sangam area.
