flamingos
October 25, 2006
Mumbai expecting more flamingos this winter
BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE
MUMBAI: With winter round the corner, Mumbai is expecting more flamingos this time around at the Sewree-Mahul stretch on the eastern seafront of this island city. Otherwise replete with skyrises or slums, Mumbai – which also has a huge mangrove park in Sewree-Mahul, has emerged as a spot for the biggest congregation of this primitive bird.
Flamingoes, considered one of the most primitive among living birds, is believed to have come into existence more than 50 million years ago. But now it is seen in large numbers in world's one of most populous city. These were sighted for the first time in Mumbai in 1994.
Over the last 10 to 12 years, the number of flamingos arriving in Mumbai has increased manifold and from November to as late as July, this becomes a place where the maximum number of these attractive birds are seen in flocks at a time.
"This year we are expecting more birds. The monsoon this year has been good and some of these birds have bred here. The eggs are laid generally in Rann of Kutch, and this time along with the older ones we are expecting some younger ones too," says environmentalist and wildlife enthusiast Issac Kehimkar, who is a senior official with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
What has helped them is that the Sewree-Mahul stretch, which also houses the Sewree Mangrove Park, besides being an ideal place for these birds, is also a high-security zone which discourage people from going there without justified reasons. The area falls under the port zone and has defence installations and oil refineries in the neighbouring areas. The place has been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
Most of these birds, which are found here, arrive from the Great Rann of Kutch in neighbouring Gujarat. Some palaeontologists and ornithologists believe that they are the birds, which is a link between the family of birds comprising storks, herons, ibises, spoonbills and cranes and the group that comprises ducks, swans and geese. While Greater flamingoes are one of the tallest birds found in India (average height of nearly four feet), the Lesser flamingoes compensate of their shorter stature with their colour's richness. While the bigger ones have light pink legs and a few streaks of pink on their feathers, the smaller ones have deep pink feathers and almost red legs and a black bill. In the twilight, they look like flames and hence the name has been derived.
Besides Great Rann of Kutch, they are also found in Point Calimere in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, Chilka in Orissa and Sambhar in Rajasthan. In Maharashtra a few are also seen in Solapur and Aurangabad. But what has attracted them to Mumbai? They like saline and alkaline water. Soda lakes, salt lagoons and mud-flats form the habitat of flamingoes for their food which chiefly comprises of crustaceans, worms and blue-green algae, which are plenty in alkaline waters.
Mumbai expecting more flamingos this winter
BY MRITYUNJAY BOSE
MUMBAI: With winter round the corner, Mumbai is expecting more flamingos this time around at the Sewree-Mahul stretch on the eastern seafront of this island city. Otherwise replete with skyrises or slums, Mumbai – which also has a huge mangrove park in Sewree-Mahul, has emerged as a spot for the biggest congregation of this primitive bird.
Flamingoes, considered one of the most primitive among living birds, is believed to have come into existence more than 50 million years ago. But now it is seen in large numbers in world's one of most populous city. These were sighted for the first time in Mumbai in 1994.
Over the last 10 to 12 years, the number of flamingos arriving in Mumbai has increased manifold and from November to as late as July, this becomes a place where the maximum number of these attractive birds are seen in flocks at a time.
"This year we are expecting more birds. The monsoon this year has been good and some of these birds have bred here. The eggs are laid generally in Rann of Kutch, and this time along with the older ones we are expecting some younger ones too," says environmentalist and wildlife enthusiast Issac Kehimkar, who is a senior official with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
What has helped them is that the Sewree-Mahul stretch, which also houses the Sewree Mangrove Park, besides being an ideal place for these birds, is also a high-security zone which discourage people from going there without justified reasons. The area falls under the port zone and has defence installations and oil refineries in the neighbouring areas. The place has been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA).
Most of these birds, which are found here, arrive from the Great Rann of Kutch in neighbouring Gujarat. Some palaeontologists and ornithologists believe that they are the birds, which is a link between the family of birds comprising storks, herons, ibises, spoonbills and cranes and the group that comprises ducks, swans and geese. While Greater flamingoes are one of the tallest birds found in India (average height of nearly four feet), the Lesser flamingoes compensate of their shorter stature with their colour's richness. While the bigger ones have light pink legs and a few streaks of pink on their feathers, the smaller ones have deep pink feathers and almost red legs and a black bill. In the twilight, they look like flames and hence the name has been derived.
Besides Great Rann of Kutch, they are also found in Point Calimere in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, Chilka in Orissa and Sambhar in Rajasthan. In Maharashtra a few are also seen in Solapur and Aurangabad. But what has attracted them to Mumbai? They like saline and alkaline water. Soda lakes, salt lagoons and mud-flats form the habitat of flamingoes for their food which chiefly comprises of crustaceans, worms and blue-green algae, which are plenty in alkaline waters.
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