Greater Flamingos & Spot-Billed Pelicans seen in Chilika this summer

Berhampur: Greater Flamingos and Spot-Billed Pelicans, migratory birds which usually fly down to Chilika Lake from Gujarat during winter and return before the temperature goes up, were recently spotted in the blue lagoon in fairly large numbers despite the lake reeling under the scorching heat, wildlife officials said on Saturday.While over 1,000 Greater Flamingos flew down to Chilika last winter, around 200 of them have stayed back in the lake despite the day temperature hovering between 33°C and 36°C. An equal number of the Spot-Billed Pelican were seen in the lake as well, though they had arrived in Chlika in a small number during winter. “We have seen these bird species flocking to Chilika and most of them are concentrated in Nalabana, the wildlife sanctuary in the lake, during peak summer.

Improvement of habitat and availability of food might be the reasons why they are choosing to stay back in the lake during summer,” Amlan Nayak, divisional forest officer (Chilika wildlife division), said.Sushant Nanda, state’s former wildlife warden, said Flamingos and Pelicans have preferred to stay in Chilika during summer mainly due less disturbance in the blue lagoon, besides the availability of food. “Moreover, their return to their habitats, like the Rann of Kutch and Nalsarovar in Gujarat, during summer is being hindered by the fact that the water level in the wetlands is going down.

Once there’s plenty of water available after the onset of monsoon, these birds will return,” Nanda added.“Besides the two species, some other duck species, which had migrated to the lake last winter, have also been spotted in the lake this summer,” Nayak added. Their exact number is not known yet. Last year, wildlife officials had discovered that two Greater Flamingos, which were fitted with GPS-GMS solar-powered trackers, had stayed back in Nalabana.

The forest department, in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun, had fitted the trackers on the legs of the birds in Chilika to determine their migratory path. The two Greater Flamingos were fitted with the trackers in Jan last year in Nalabana and they were spotted in the lake last May, sources said.“We are monitoring the migration pattern of the two Greater Flamingos and some of their other activities,” Nayak added. As many as 11,32,200 birds of 196 different species were counted in Chilika last winter. These included 11,10,257 of 106 species of migratory birds and 21,943 of 90 species of resident birds, sources said.