As temp soars, winged guests return to native countries from Hadauti

With the winter season coming to an end, migratory birds from European and Central Asian countries have started returning to their native places from the wetlands of Hadauti region

With the winter season coming to an end, migratory birds from European and Central Asian countries have started returning to their native places from the wetlands of Hadauti region.

Migratory birds at Anasagar Lake in Ajmer. (Deepak Sharma/HT)

To study the trend, a group of bird watchers, led by Hadauti Naturalist Society vice president Abdul Haneef Zaidi and secretary RS Tomar, recently visited Alniya Dam in Kota. Zaidi also visited Wardha Dam and wetlands of Ranpur and Lakhawa in the district. In their visit to the Alniya Dam on February 10 and February 16, the bird watchers saw a dip in the number of winged guests.

Alnia Dam is among the biggest wetlands of Kota, where migratory birds arrive in thousands of number.

“Migratory birds such as bar headed goose, grey leg goose, common teel, common pochard, ruddy shelduck, tufted pochard, shawler and pintail have started to depart to their respective countries following rise in the temperature these days,” said Zaidi.

However, migratory birds such as black-headed seagull, brown-headed seagull, little flower, black-headed ibis, saras, spoon bill and cormorant can be still seen at the Alniya Dam. “They will also return to their native places in the coming days as winter season is about to conclude,” Zaidi said.

Tomar said the migratory birds arrive from European and Central Asian countries to the wetlands of Hadauti region with the onset of winters every year in October and November and starts departing by February and March.

Zaidi said the wetlands of Ranpur and Lakhawa in Kota district and Wardha in Bundi district have turned almost empty following return of the migratory birds. “Now, when the maximum temperature is touching around 30 degrees (Celsius), it does not suit the migratory birds that come from cold countries. So, they return to their native places when the temperature starts soaring,” he said.