The Black-tailed Godwits that breed in Siberia and come to ‘winter’ in Kolleru Lake are staying back in large numbers. The Black-Tailed Godwits are migratory and winter birds both in temperate and tropical zones.
These birds seem to have taken a liking for Kolleru Lake and are staying put for the entire summer. According to studies, non-breeding immature birds migrate to warmer places and stay there through the summer to feed. This phenomenon of Black-tailed Godwits staying through the summer is however recent for Kolleru Lake.
Former Assistant Conservator of Forests and an authority on the birds of Kolleru P. Gracious first reported the Black-tailed Godwits “extending their stay” in 2011. These birds arrive from Siberia in November, well before the severe winter sets in, and return to their breeding grounds in February. But the birds stayed in Kolleru until August in 2011. Last year, the Godwits were seen in Kolleru Lake through out the summer.
“The birds seem to have become comfortable in Kolleru Lake, a wildlife sanctuary and a Ramsar Site,” Mr Gracious said.
There are three subspecies of the Black-tailed Godwit, with the first subspecies breeding across Western Europe, mainly in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. The second subspecies breeds largely in Iceland and the third in eastern Siberia. It is the third subspecies that breeds in eastern Siberia (L. l. melanuroides) that winters in the area spanning from India to Taiwan and Philippines and south to Australia. So it is this subspecies of the Godwit that is also found in Kolleru Lake.
This year the Rosy Starlings which breed in Eastern Europe and temperate Asia and come to India to winter have also extended their stay, Mr Gracious said.
The Black-tailed Godwits seem to have become comfortable in Kolleru Lake, a wildlife sanctuary and a Ramsar Site
P. Gracious
Former Assistant Conservator
of Forests