From Flamingos to Siberian Cranes: 6 stunning birds that migrate to India

Every year, millions of birds paint the skies with their unique colours on amazing journeys that range across continents. Some travel from the frozen tundra region of Siberia to the warm wetlands and other parts of India.


While some of these birds spend summers in other colder parts of the world, extreme frozen winters become unbearable. So they migrate to the warmer parts of the world.

Here are some beautiful and unique birds that migrate to India:

The Greater Flamingo is the largest flamingo species and gets its stunning pink colour from the food it eats, including shrimp, plankton, and algae. They are monogamous birds, choosing one partner per breeding season, and lay only one egg. The Rann of Kutch in India serves as one of their most important breeding grounds in South Asia. In winter, thousands gather at places like Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan and Sewri mudflats in Mumbai.

Northern Shoveler is a migratory duck known that has a visible broad, spoon-shaped bill that it uses to filter food from water. Odisha's Chilika Lake is Asia's largest wintering ground for migratory waterbirds. Every winter, over a million birds flock to the lagoon from as far as the Caspian Sea, Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the remote Arctic regions. The lake gives a rich habitat with wetlands and abundant aquatic food, making it an important breeding and migratory ground for beautiful birds in India every year.

The Spotted Redshank changes it appearnace according to each season. During breeding, it turns into almost completely black plumage with white spots on its wings, while winters bring pale gray feathers. These birds breed in subarctic marshes of northern Europe and Asia's taiga and tundra regions. They are often spotted in NCR in places like the Dhanauri Wetlands, Dadri, and Okhla Bird Park, as well as Nal Sarovar in Gujarat.

The Bluethroat is a beautiful species that has a bright-blue bib highlighted by two stripes, one rust-colored and the other black. Male Bluethroats have an even more extravagant feather cover than females. These birds breed in northern Eurasia and migrate to shrublands in Maharashtra, such as Thane and Navi Mumbai, and wetlands in Madhya Pradesh.

The Asian Koel is a large cuckoo family member and a brood parasite that lays its eggs in crows' nests, where hosts raise its young. The male is glossy bluish-black with a pale greenish-gray bill, crimson eyes, and gray legs, while the female is brownish. They are partial migrants from places like Nepal, and the male Koel is heard repeating "koo-Ooo," extremely loud between March and August during breeding season.

The Siberian Crane is the world's third rarest crane and is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. This large white bird has elegant, long legs and neck, with black wingtips and a red facial patch. Native to the Arctic Tundra of Russia, this bird has been historically known to migrate to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, since the 1940s in winter.