HYDERABAD: It is that time of the year when the last of the winged visitors to the city's lakes prepare themselves to fly back thousands of miles after spending several months in a congenial environment here.
What attracts these extremely long-range migrants, some which cross the open oceans and many come over from the other side of the Himalayas, year after year, to the southern peninsula is the warmer weather, sufficient food and shallow waters here to name some. But, this year has been different. The lakes have dried up much before than expected, endangering their habitats.
In the meantime, Ameenpur lake has emerged as the major birding spot for flamingos and even pelicans as the Osmansagar, Himayatsagar, Manjeera dam, Patancheru lake and ICRISAT lake, all of which were major habitats for these birds, have all gone dry.
A noted ornithologist and member of Bird Watchers Society of Andhra Pradesh, Humayun Taher, says that migratory birds which have been coming to the city year after year have very strong homing instincts and decide where they have to take a stop.
"If there is no water in major lakes, they are probably scattered to smaller lakes which have water. While the number of birds spotted in January last year was 3.4 lakh, this year in the same month we have spotted 2.9 lakh birds," he says, adding that the number is surely less but not disappointing.
As a blessing in disguise, he says, fewer lakes with water has made better sightings of birds possible this year. The prevailing scorching summer and heat certainly is a concern to not only birds but all species as like anyone else, says Fareeda Tampal, state director of WWF-India, according to whom there is no documentary evidence to indicate changing trends in the number of birds. "We have not seen flamingos at Gandipet lake or Himayatsagar but surprisingly they have found home in Ameenpur," she says.
Sreenivas Mulagala of Hyderabad Birding Pals, points out that his club recorded sighting of 235 birds species in Hyderabad on February 7, which was the Big Bird Day this year. "Migratory birds need larger lakes, open areas and shallow waters as reservoirs and big lakes. Due to lack of water there, they have adapted themselves to deeper waters in smaller lakes like Ameenpur which is surrounded by constructions."
Mulagala says that up to 3,000 flamingos and over 4,000 bar-headed geese were sighted at Osmansagar lake in the middle of February by when the lake started drying up. "The number of species of birds has remained more or less the same but the number has certainly come down this year. Reasons could range from habitat destruction to heat and parched lakes," he adds.
According to his fellow club member Rajeev Khandelwal, even African black ducks and Mongolian ducks were not sighted much this year. "Over 2,000 northern Shovelors used to be seen. They came and disappeared. Painted storks and gray hernons are surprisingly still there. We have spotted most birds but the numbers have come down," he remarks.
Speaking about the native birds that have no other option than spend the summer here, Humayun Taher says it is a cause of concern as they do not get sufficient water levels. "They are good at managing themselves. They would find smaller lakes and scatter themselves," he observes.