DHARWAD: In a remarkable discovery, four birders from Bengaluru have sighted and photographed the extremely rare red phalarope near Dharwad—likely marking the first recorded sighting of this vagrant species in Karnataka. The birders—Manjunath P, Chidananda Urs, Nitin Srinivasa Murthy, and Nisarg Bharadwaj—identified the Red Phalarope, during their birdwatching expedition.
The bird has been sighted at Mavinkoppa Lake near Dharwad. While their breeding grounds are in the High Arctic regions of Alaska and Canada, these birds undertake long-distance migrations. In India, they were earlier sighted along the coastal areas.
There have been very few records of sightings of red phalaropes in Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat and in some time it recorded in the Andaman and Nicobar. “This bird is not a migrant. It’s a vagrant, which means it has appeared outside its normal range. Normally migratory birds find themselves in a migratory pattern.
This bird does not have one,” Murthy told TNIE. India is not part of their regular migratory route or wintering grounds, there have been several documented sightings of the red phalarope in various parts of the country over the years. These sightings typically involve individual birds.
“This bird should not be mistaken with red-necked phalarope,” Murthy added.