KOCHI: In a eureka moment, a group of ornithologists from Kerala sighted a migratory bird ringed in Russia during a coastal migratory bird-watching expedition at Chavakkad Beach in Thrissur. Commonly called the Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris), the bird found its way to the eastern coast of Kerala, flying over 10,000 km.
The bird was sighted by Dr Kalesh Sadasivan, P P Sreenivasan and Samkumar P B. The single-ringed bird
was seen in a flock of 15 Great Knots and about 150 migratory waders including the straggler and rare Caspian Plover, Sanderling, Lesser Sand Plovers and about a hundred Seagulls.
“Sighting the ring was elating but also meant a tough call. However, we decided to document the number engraved on the ring in the scorching heat of the beach and it read TC 32469 MOSKVA”, said P P Sreenivasan, a veteran birder who had been monitoring the Trichur coasts for over two decades.
“The word MOSKVA gave us the first clue that it was a Russian ring”, said Samkumar P B, a member of Birders sans Borders (BSB), an NGO based in Thrissur working for bird conservation.
“Once the Russian connection was confirmed, we contacted Dmitry Dorofeev, who was in charge of the bird ringing operations at Kamchatka peninsula, where these birds are known to breed. And the final confirmation came by email,” said Dr Kalesh Sadasivan, research associate at Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS), Thiruvananthapuram.
According to Dmitry Dorofeev, this Great Knot was ringed at the Khairusova-Belogolovaya estuary on the western coast of the Kamchatka peninsula, in eastern Russia. It was a juvenile bird and was marked with a metal ring on its leg on August 12, 2022.
These long-distance migratory birds stay in the Yellow sea region and Thailand in Southeast Asia before proceeding to their southerly winter grounds including Peninsula India. The Russian scientists had tagged around 100 Great Knots, but till now only two of the birds were resighted from India- one in Kerala and the other bird tagged 6Z was sighted at Jamnagar in Gujarat.
The species is using the Central Asian Flyway, an important international migration pathway to reach the southern regions of Asia.
“TNHS and BSB are systematically photo-documenting the migratory birds, especially the straggler migrants and ringed birds. Sighting of any tagged birds may be informed for unravelling the secrets bird migration,” said Raphy Kalletumkara, president of BSB.