Number of winged guests goes down even as variety remains same as previous years

New Delhi: Fewer migratory birds have arrived this season at Yamuna Biodiversity Park compared with last year, field biologists have said.The Yamuna Biodiversity Park is one of the major bird habitats within Delhi's boundary. Officials said the variety in species was as diverse as in previous years but the number of individual birds was low. Biologists are speculating about the reasons for the low turnout.“This season the numbers are very low. However, the diversity is fine. There are different species that we can see but in very few numbers,” said Faiyaz Khuzdar, in charge, DDA biodiversity park program.He said that species like the northern shoveler, common pochard, northern pintail, eurasian coots etc have been sighted, but the numbers are low.“These are some of the major species which can be spotted. We are not taking about vagrants. Some species are yet to be spotted like the ferruginous duck, eurasian wigeon and brown headed gull,” Khuzdar said.Generally, over 80 species of migratory birds, including water birds such as geese, ducks, stork, cranes, jungle birds like thrushes, raptors like harriers and eagles arrive in the region by October. About 40 species of passage migrants make a pit-stop, while there are about 180 species of resident birds.Last November, at the beginning of the season, several birders had pointed to the delayed migration in and around Delhi. They had said that the population was thin, while some major winter attractions like Bar Headed Geese, which often arrive in large numbers by early November, couldn’t be seen. They had then cited high temperatures, poor habitat health, alternative sites along routes, delayed winters and pollution as reasons behind the low count.Now as the winter is at its peak, birders say that it is not just the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, but other habitats too have been deprived of birds in significant numbers.“We used to spot over 3,000 geese at Chandu in Haryana. This year so far, it’s merely 300. Some rare birds spotted last year like Ruddy Turnstone, Blacked Tailed Godwit etc have not been spotted at all,” birder Major General Arvind Kumar Yadav said.“The reason is low water or poor habitat health. The low count is being seen in almost at all major habitats in the region. Besides, there’s a new phenomenon this year where villagers could be seen using firecrackers and drums to drive away species like the geese, which feed on wheat, so disturbance is one more reason. But, the main issue is water,” Yadav said.