Migration

Birds migrate. People too migrate. During my visit to the wetlands of Bhigwan on the new year’s eve of 2016, I started wondering how the two would compare.

Bird Migration is indeed full of intrigue and fascination. It is a natural miracle. Migratory birds fly hundreds and thousands of miles in search of better conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. The journey is often a perilous one due to factors ranging from adverse weather conditions to habitat destruction, poaching and human interference.

How birds manage such extraordinary feats still remains a mystery. In the words of Sir David Attenborough (who needs no introduction), “there seems to be no single answer: they use many methods. Some we are beginning to understand, some mystify us; and there may be some that depend on abilities we have not yet suspected!”

An example of one such extraordinary feat is the case of the Arctic Tern. Its journey, starting within weeks from hatching, will take it from northern Greenland, down the western coasts of Europe and Africa, across the Antarctic Ocean to the South Pole – a total of 17000 kilometers! Less than a year later, it will cover the same distance again on its return journey home!! The Bar-headed Geese who winter in several parts of the Indian sub-continent, are another example of exemplary fortitude. These geese have been recorded flying above the Himalayas at heights above 23000 feet! The average cruising speed of ducks and geese has been found to be between 65 and 80 kmph or more. A migratory bird flies between 6 to 11 hours a day or sometime even at night and can cover distances ranging from 200 km to 880 km in one ‘hop’. Non-stop flights of atleast 3200 kms across open seas are undertaken by the Eurasian Golden Plover which is a winter visitor to India. This bird breeds in Alaska and Siberia. In 2007, a female Bar-tailed Godwit was found to have flown 11,500 kms non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand — without taking a break for food or drink. She completed her journey in 9 days.

More amazing still is the instinctive ability of young birds to find their way back to their ancestral homes without being guided by birds that have done it before!  In some species, adult males are the first to arrive at their breeding grounds followed by adult females. These birds will breed and raise their young before flying back.  The order of the return journey, however, is reversed. It is the young, new-born birds, in some cases not more than a couple of months old who will form the vanguard! The young birds have no previous experience of either the route or the destination. Yet they accomplish the journey with amazing accuracy.

So how does one explain this phenomenon?

According to some scientists it is the inborn ability inherited through countless generations of migrants journeying back and forth year after year. It is similar to other vital urges like building nests without having any previous experience or training. However complicated the architecture, birds build their nests according to the traditional pattern of the species, even if they are doing so the very first time!

A crucial feature in migration of birds is that however perilous the journey may be, they make an equally arduous return journey from where they migrated. Scottish ornithologist Landsborough Thomson describes migration as “Changes in habitat periodically recurring and alternating in direction, which tend to secure optimum environmental conditions at all times.” Thus birds have devised a clever way to get the best of both worlds! When their home grounds become too cold and freeze over in winter and food becomes difficult to get, they migrate to warmer places where food is available in abundance. Then as summer approaches, they fly back to the cooler climes of their home grounds to nest and bring up their young, where food will now be easier to get.

An amazing feature to be noted here is the accuracy of the return. Birds have been found to not only return to the same general locality year after year, but often to the same nesting site. A ringed Grey Wagtail was found to return, presumably from its Himalayan breeding grounds to a particular lawn in Mumbai which was no bigger than a tennis court, and that too on almost the exact date in September for five years running. (Ref: Book of Indian Birds by Dr. Salim Ali). Another more recent discovery is that of a Siberian Ruby-throat that was found to return to the exact same spot in Bharatpur each year. This feature is referred to as ‘site fidelity’.

In addition to the extensive journeys of migrant birds from beyond our own frontiers, birds also migrate locally. For example some ducks like Spot-billed ducks. These seasonal movements are no less regular in their cycle than those of true migratory birds. The Indian Pitta for instance breeds in the north of India and migrates down south through peninsular India upto Sri Lanka. He is a ‘passage migrant’ passing through Mumbai. We often see him in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park at the onset of the monsoon before he leaves for his return journey back north. Apart from this, altitudinal migration also happens among species living in the Himalayas who migrate to lower, warmer climes in winter and return to their breeding grounds at higher altitudes in spring.

The Indian Sub-continent attracts more than 220 winter visitors, some of which are also passage migrants. Winter visitors to India originate mostly in northern and central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Wetlands like Bharatpur and Harike in the north, Chilka in the east, Pt.Calimere in the south and Thol in Gujarat are some of the places in India that attract flocks of migratory water birds. Our forests and scrublands too play host to our winged visitors during winter. Among the wetlands of India, one of the largest in South Central India that is a haven for migratory birds is Bhigwan – located around 100 kms from Pune in Maharashtra. It is like a pilgrimage for most bird watchers. Year after year, thousands of migratory ducks, waders and waterfowl congregate at this large expanse of water bodies formed by the back waters of the Ujjani Dam across the Bhima River. Teals, Spoonbills, Geese, Ducks, Gulls, Storks, Herons, Egrets, Coots, Pochards, Harriers, Osprey and an incredible variety of waders make their annual journey to this wetland. Other birds like Pratincoles, Pipits, Larks, Chats and Shrikes are also seen in the surrounding dry habitat. A small population of Greater flamingos, also winter here regularly.

It was my visit to this very paradise, with dear friends Adesh Shivkar, an extremely knowledgeable and experienced birder and his lovely wife Sweedle Cerejo Shivkar, an expert in orchids, that set me wondering about the magic and mystique of migration.

As we set out from Baramati at the break of dawn on the very first day of the new year of 2016, I had no idea how memorable this trip was to be.

As we entered the back-waters in a small wooden boat, a panorama of beauty unfolded in front of our eyes. Flocks of Pintails, Shovellers and Ruddy Shelducks who were busy feeding on the small patches of land emerging from shallow waters, took to wing as our boat approached them. Majestic Open-billed Storks stood alert in the shallow waters, waiting patiently for their chance to catch their prey. A solitary Grey Heron stood calmly taking in the warmth of the sun on that cool January morning. Brown-headed Gulls floated lazily around in the water. Shapely River Terns flew gracefully over our heads. White and Glossy Ibises too were busy hunting for their food. As we floated around in our little wooden boat, a flock of Spoonbills seemed to have had their fill as they stood preening themselves in the shallow waters. It was truly an idyllic morning.

(contd. after the photographs......)

Northern Shovellers (Male and female)

Painted Storks

Ruddy Shelduck

Asian Openbill

Wooly-necked Stork

Grey Heron

Brown Headed Gull

River Tern

Whiskered Tern

Wood Sandpiper

Spoonbills

Spoonbills

Glossy Ibis

White Ibis

Little Ringed Plover

Ashy Crowned Lark

Suddenly, there was a rush of excitement amongst us, even in the tranquility of the morning, as our guide gave us an extraordinary piece of information. A solitary Greater White-Fronted Goose had been recently spotted in the area. The Greater White-Fronted Goose is a rare bird in the Indian subcontinent, with just three previous records in Maharashtra. It was perhaps the first time it was spotted in Bhigwan. This bird breeds in Siberia and Greenland. It is rarely seen in the Indian subcontinent. This lone individual had probably strayed into Bhigwan with a flock of Bar-Headed Geese. Obviously, our aim was now to somehow try and spot the goose. But soon enough, the efforts of our young guide bore fruit after many anxious moments. We were indeed lucky to have seen this beauty as it waddled around on a patch of land near the water before flying off and giving us that truly precious snap-shot of himself.

(contd. after the photographs......)

Greater White-fronted Goose

Greater White-fronted Goose

So how does bird migration compare with migration of people? Birds migrate for a reason. So do we humans.

We humans migrate mostly from rural areas to cities in search of better living conditions, financial resources, economic opportunities, infrastructure facilities, etc. We call this urbanisation. While urbanisation has its advantages, the rapid rise in urban population, in India, is leading to many problems like increasing slums, decrease in standard of living in urban areas and causing severe environmental damage too. It is, in fact, an irony, that our own migration trends have put the lives of migratory birds at risk. After very long and arduous journeys, migratory birds face countless dangers like destruction and degradation of habitats, loss of critical stopover sites such as coastal wetlands, illegal killing, poisoning, pollution and collisions with badly-positioned infrastructure like power cables and wind turbines. Ironically, most of these hazards are a creation of our own migration to cities. And, unlike birds, we humans don’t necessarily return to our home grounds thus creating an imbalance in the ethnography of the region. So is this migration in the true sense? Or just urbanisation which has more dis-advantages for our natural world?

But then why do our natural world, our animals and our birds matter in the first place? What difference would it make in our lives if birds ceased to exist?

Well, it would make a difference. Birds are important for ecological balance and for our own well-being. They keep systems in balance. They pollinate plants, they disperse seeds, scavenge carcasses and recycle nutrients back into the earth. But even more than their ecological value, they feed our spirits….. they inspire our souls to take flight ….. artists and poets are moved into creating art and poetry ….. birds remind us that we depend on nature and not the other way around.

As someone beautifully put it, birds matter not least, because amazing migrations remind us what an interconnected web we live in, from pole to pole.

So how could we ensure safer grounds for birds and at the same time ensure better opportunities for ourselves? What if rural folk had access to better living conditions in their villages itself? If the very same conditions for which they move to the cities in the first place, are made available to them in their own villages….better living conditions, financial resources, economic opportunities, etc., would they need to then move into cities and trigger the numerous disadvantages of urbanisation?

A wonderful effort came to light when I met a local bird enthusiast in Bhigwan, Sandip Nagare.

Having grown up in Bhigwan and lived in the area surrounding the Ujjani back-waters since he was a child, Sandip knew about the birds around his neighbourhood. His curiosity and inherent zeal to learn more about his feathered friends lead him to study the birds enough so as to be able to guide visitors who came bird watching. Soon, he became the most sought after bird guide. Realising that this could be a great source of income for him and his family, he started building a few extra rooms in his existing house. Visitors were given clean boarding and lodging facilities. His family cooked up delicious local meals for the visitors. Sandip has now trained young boys from his village to be bird guides. Boats owned by local fisher families are rented out for birding excursions. Sandip’s tiny step has ensured decent livelihoods for many youngsters of the village and for the fisher folk as well, as their boats bring them some extra income when they are not fishing!

(contd. after the photographs......)

Seeing the success of Sandip’s attempt, others from the village too have started offering their houses and services for birding visitors. In recent times, Bhigwan had been suffering from the problem of poaching and illegal killing of birds by the local ‘fase-pardhi’ community. With the advent of this enterprise, poaching too has been reduced drastically as the new bird guides now act as vigilantes ensuring the safety of the birds. The villagers are now self sufficient and earn decent livelihoods. Would they now want to move to cities?? 

While Sandip’s resourcefulness has contributed in a big way to conservation of the surrounding habitat and the safety of the migratory birds, he has also successfully managed to give a few villagers and their families better living conditions, financial resources and economic opportunities. The very same reasons they would want to move to the cities.

We need many more Sandip Nagares in our villages, so that our village folk will never feel the need to move to cities in search of better opportunities. And excessive urbanisation won’t take a toll on our visiting and resident feathered friends.

As Sir David Attenborough wisely said, “Instead of controlling the environment for the benefit of the population, perhaps it’s time we control the population for the survival of the environment.”

Adesh Shivkar, me and Sweedle Cerejo Shivkar

Nivedita Kothare

Bhigwan – 31^st Dec 2015 – 1^st Jan 2016