When I received a message from my friend, Dr. Subir Ghosh, Formerly GM, NABARD and Formerly Project Coordinator, UNDP- JEF Project on MCPSSC&ME 10-Dec-2024 stating that “Our wonderful seasonal guests arrived in Navi Mumbai” with a photograph of beautiful Flamingos congregation, I wrote him back requesting the location so that I can go for photography. In response he not only gave me the location but with a bonus stating that “ If you want, I can get in touch with the people there for your trip”. It was like an offer for one more heavenly trip on earth. I immediately caught the offer like a diving catch in the slip.
I immediately booked my ticket for going to Mumbai.
On 6-Jan-2025, I reached Subir’s home and on 7th, we, Soma (Mrs. Soma Ghosh), Subir and myself, left his house by 2:30 pm to reach Sector 10 Diva Nagar Road, Airoli Mangrove Forest, Navi Mumbai by 3:00 pm. Staff of the Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Centre, came for our assistance. We first visited their museum where there was a 12 min video show. At 4:00 pm, I went to jetty and boarded the speed boat for my venture to see the Flamingos.
Before proceeding further, let me tell you something about the Flamingos:
The name flamingo comes from Portuguese or Spanish Flamengo ‘flame-coloured’,
Flamingos are one of the most beautiful migratory birds in India, and the country is home to both Greater flamingos (Phoeniconaias ruber) and Lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor)
India has the largest population of Lesser flamingos outside the African continent, mainly in the salt deserts of Gujarat3. The Flamingos migrate into India during winter. Best places and sanctuaries to see Flamingos in India are
Bhigwan — Maharashtra
Bhigwan is a small town and sometime called as Bharatpur of Maharashtra, situated on the border of Pune and Solapur district, 100 kms away from Pune. Bhigwan town has Yashwant Sagar reservoir, forming from the backwaters of the Ujain dam and famous for flamingo bird watching place and wildlife
Thane Creek- Maharshtra
Thane Creek is an estuary of the Arabian Sea and one of the two main distributaries of the Ulhas River, in Konkan division of Maharashtra. The region of the Thane Creek has been recognized as an important Bird Area by the Bombay Natural History Society, as it is home to various avian species. In particular, it harbours flamingos and several other migratory and wading birds. The area has been designated as a protected Ramsar site since 2022.
Thol Lake — Gujarat
Thol Lake is an artificial lake surrounded by marshes and declared as the Thol Bird Sanctuary. Thol Lake sanctuary attracts thousands of migratory flamingoes and Sarus crane birds and one of the most popular birding place near Ahmedabad.
Flamingo City — Gujarat
Flamingo city is the island and breeding ground for the migratory flamingo birds, located in the flats of the Rann of Kutch. Little Rann of Kutch or Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary has the largest and most popular breeding grounds for the Lesser Flamingos in India.
Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary — Gujarat
Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary has unique ecosystem of both fresh water lakes and salt marshlands, located in Jamnagar district of Gujarat. The Bird Sanctuary host about 300 types of migratory birds like the black-necked stork, black-tailed godwit, Eurasian wigeon and Demoiselle crane.
Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary — Gujarat
Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary is one of the largest water bird destination in India and largest wetland bird sanctuary in Gujarat. The lake mainly inhabited by migratory birds and attracts over 210 species of birds in winter and spring including rosy pelicans, flamingoes and migratory waterfowl.
Pulicat Bird Sanctuary — Andhra Pradesh
Pulicat Bird Sanctuary is the second largest brackish-water in India, located in Nellore of Andhra Pradesh. Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary and Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary are two most popular bird sanctuaries in South India and an important breeding site for spot billed pelicans in India and noted for the many greater Flamingos.
Chilka Lake — Odisha
Odisha’s Chilka Lake is the Asia’s largest inland salt water lagoon and an important habitat and breeding ground of flamingos in India. Chilka Lake is India’s migratory birds paradise where one can see large flock of Flamingos, Sanderling, Black Kite, Sea eagle and Falcon.
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary — Rajasthan
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary now called as Keoladeo National Park is home to over 366 species of birds and also a world heritage site. The Sanctuary has man managed wetland and known for nesting of migratory birds including Flamingo, Painted storks and water birds.
Jawai Dam — Rajasthan
Jawai Dam is the biggest dam in the western Rajasthan and the reservoir is paradise for migratory birds including flamingos during winter season. Jawai village and hills are also famous for huge population of Indian leopards and called as India’s Leopard Hills.
Flamingos usually stand on one leg with the other tucked beneath the body.
While walking, a flamingo’s legs may appear to bend backwards. This appearance is due to the middle joint on their legs being their ankle, not their knee. Flamingos also have webbed feet that aid with swimming and they may stamp their feet in the mud to stir up food from the bottom.
Adults range from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta-carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly coloured, thus a more desirable mate; a white or pale flamingo, however, is usually unhealthy or malnourished.
The Greater Flamingo is the tallest of the six different species of flamingos, standing at 3.9 to 4.7 feet with a weight up to 3.5 kg, and the Lesser Flamingo species has a height of 2.6 feet and weighs about 2.5 kg. Flamingos can have a wingspan as small as 37 inches to as big as 59 inches.
Flamingos are omnivores who filter-feed on brine shrimp and blue-green algae as well as insect larvae, small insects, mollusks and crustaceans. Their bills are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they eat, and are uniquely used upside-down.
The pink or reddish colour of Flamingos comes from carotenoids in their diet of animal and plant plankton. Though Flamingos prefer to drink freshwater, interestingly, they are equipped with glands under their eyes that remove extra salt from their bodies. This organ allows them to drink saltwater as well.
Despite pressure from development, flamingos seem to be thriving on the shores of one of the world’s most populous cities, and local people are becoming protective of the birds and their habitat.
As the city grew in the 1970s and ’80s, so did the volume of untreated sewage flowing into Thane Creek, nurturing the algae that are the flamingos’ main food and turning the area into a feeding ground for the birds. Their numbers have increased in the past two decades, from at least 10,000 in 2007 to an estimated to be 150,000 this year.
Sometimes, “human impact results in conditions that seem terrible for nature at a glance, but are actually a gold mine for some species,” says Sunjoy Monga, a veteran local naturalist and BNHS member who has also led a study on Mumbai wildlife. “There is so much organic richness amid the gloom [of the city].”
A good number of flamingos are now permanent Indian residents and shuttles among various lakes mentioned above in search of foods and breed mainly in Kautch, Gujarat.
The spectacular view of the Flamingos:
The boat driver was very informative about different groups of birds, their name and behaviour. He was constantly narrating about various birds in our visibility. I got a special attention, perhaps due to Dr. Ghosh. He guided me to take photographs of some other beautiful birds also. Colour of the Flamingos have not yet fully developed and as they feed more alga and other plant plankton, they will grow the pink hue gradually by the end of their stay.
Some other species observed in my trips are:
Common Teal Duck (Anas crecca)
Male: greyish with chestnut head with broad metallic-green band from eye to nape with yellow-white border. Black, green and buff wing speculum.
The black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) is a large, long-legged, long-billed shorebird.
I can only say at the end that it was a feast to the eyes and a pleasant boating experience in high tide in the creek. Boating was about one hour duration. My camera was continuously panning the birds and clicking.
By seeing the beautiful flights of the Flamingos a few lines of Rabindranath Tagore started rewinding in my mind “ওরে বিহঙ্গ, ওরে বিহঙ্গ মোর, এখনই অন্ধ বন্ধ করোনা পাখা “ means oh birds don’t shut your wings now.
We returned back from the biodiversity centre with a pleasant feeling to be remembered long.
Jai Bharat!
Satyabrata Maiti
Acknowledgement
My sincere thanks to:
- Dr. Subir Ghosh, Formerly GM, NABARD and Project Coordinator, UNDP- JEF Project for his initiative and support inspite of little bad health.
2. Additional PCCF of Forest, Mangrove cell Mumbai and their staff of Mangrove Foundation for facilitating my visit
3. Soma for her caring hospitality
4. Geetha for improving the manuscript with her editorial skill
References
1. Mumbai Embraces Its Booming Flamingo Population. Published by by Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar in Haki magazine https://hakaimagazine.com/features/mumbai-embraces-its-booming-flamingo-population/December 6, 2022.
2. Wikipedia
3. Other online literatures
