Migratory birds’ count dip further this year

INDORE: While it’s that time of the year when birds bid adieu to the city, the low turnout of

migratory birds

in

major wetlands of Indore

– Sirpur, Yeshwant Sagar, Bilawali and Machal - has disappointed

bird watchers

.

According to experts, numbers of certain bird species have gone down from 10 per cent to more than 50 per cent as compared to last year.

Experts said birds like Ruddy shelduck, Lesser whistling duck, Gadwall, Northern pintail, Garganey, Steppe eagle and Red breasted flycatcher were spotted in less number as compared to previous year.

“On an average according to my study, the dip in the number of species as well as the bird count have gone down by around 15 per cent from last year,” said

Ajay Gadikar

, bird expert

Ravi Sharma, another expert and president of Nature and Wildlife Protection and Conservation organization, an NGO working in the field of bird conservation, said there were some birds that were not spotted in the city at all.

“Some like the Greater spotted eagle, Mallard and Ferruginous ducks were not spotted at all,” Sharma said.

“Along with weather conditions, other factors like human interference, bird migration is also affected by birds native to a particular place occupying that area,” Sharma said.

However, the population of native birds seemed intact. “This is indeed a very good indication. It is important that the birds belonging to these places have not been affected,” said Gadikar.

Experts also said that other than the usual lakes where birds have been coming, they have been spotted in far off areas from the city where human interference is less. Birds have also been spotted in wetlands of villages like Krishnapura, Hatod, Manpur, Choral and Bangarda.