For the birders from Rajahmundry, Divvela Mohan Srikar and Suresh Kumar, it was yet another fascinating experience to see the elegant winged visitors, Indian skimmers, for the second season in a row at Bhairavapalem (Yanam) on Sunday.
Birders Mohan Srikar and Suresh Kumar of Rajamahendravaram. | Photo Credit: BY ARRANGEMENT
It was one of those regular visits for these avid nature lovers when the duo of Mohan and Suresh chanced upon these Indian Skimmers which are also said to be ‘endangered”.
“Interestingly, they are geo-tagged by Parveen Shaikh (Bombay Natural History Society) and are a threatened riverine avian species. It breeds on sandy rivers during summers and is known to migrate to its non-breeding grounds when the rivers are flooded,” explains the 37-year-old Mohan.
“The geo-tagging is done to understand the movement pattern of Indian Skimmer breeding on Chambal River, and a colour flagging and ringing study was carried out in the Madhya Pradesh section of National Chambal Sanctuary, India,” he said.
“The 308 individuals of different age categories were marked at 18 selected nesting sites. Of these marked individuals, 22 were resighted in three States, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, during the non-breeding season,” Mr. Mohan said.
“These resighting records showed that the breeding population of Indian Skimmer of Chambal River migrates to coastal wetlands/intertidal areas during the non-breeding season,” he said.
“Well, the population is now mainly within India and Pakistan and is estimated to be about 6,000-10,000 individuals. The decreasing population has led it to being classed as endangered. It is threatened by habitat loss and degradation, pollution and disturbance by humans,” Mr. Mohan said.
“It was a visual delight for us, they are very curious-looking birds mainly because of their specialised beaks - bright orange-yellow in colour with an upper mandible that is distinctly shorter than the lower,” he said.
“For someone who has sighted about 300 species of birds in the last three years, this sighting is certainly special. And, I believe many of the bird lovers in this region would love to shoot them given the grand spectacle they present, especially their number being about 500,” said Mr. Mohan, who works as a manager in a pharma company in Rajamahendravaram.
