Bird Hit

How pollution, trash dumping and encroachment are scaring away rare migratory species from their top winter hotspots in Delhi-NCR

- Prashasti Shandilya And Chayyanika Nigam

A photography student, Gauri Lall, returned home disheartened as even after waiting for 15-days she failed to capture glossy green head duck Mallard, making a splash on water, which seems to have given a skip to Delhi this year.

Similarly, birders have not spotted Garganey chirping and foraging for food so far. Birdwatchers have been observing that the number of migratory birds such as Common Coot, Northern Shovler, Common Pochard, Wishkered Tern, Piedavocet, White-tailed Lapwing, Oriental Darter and Citrine Wagtail among others have declined in the last five years. Both air and noise pollution, and rapid urbanisation have been disturbing not just humans but the bird habitats as well, a Mail Today reality check at the Capital’s bird habitats has found.

Regular bird watchers and experts believe that a receding groundwater level can also be the reason why rare birds that once used to visit the Capital are disappearing, even as the forest department numbers suggest that there is a perceptible increase in the number of migratory birds. The winged guests normally visit the natural bird sanctuaries and habitat parks from mid-October, to stay here till March. Various bird sanctuaries like the Yamuna Biodiversity Park, Okhla Bird Sanctuary and Sultanpur National Park host these guests who nurture here until the climatic conditions are stabilised in their homelands. The Garhi Mandu, Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary and Najafgarh Drain are the other bird-watching spots in and around the Capital, but due to climate change human interference and pollution fewer birds are spotted in these parts.