Humans congregate for a variety of reasons: to mourn a death and to celebrate a wedding; to cheer a performance and to jeer one; to wage war and to promote peace. The list stretches long. Hugely complicated and layered, the human world accounts for a bewilderingly wide spectrum of motivations to mass up in huge numbers. Being limited in its expressions of intent, the avian world would have fewer reasons for birds to congregate in massive numbers, but those reasons are nevertheless underpinned by strong motivations.
A massive mixed congregation of waders at Kelambakkam on March 19, 2024. Photo: Prince Frederick | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
Return migration
In the avian world, mass congregations can mean different things at different times. Waders that rely greatly on inter-tidal fluctuations would mass up on mudflats that show up during low tide. There are birds known for rafting. Pelicans are past masters at it. When pelicans raft for trapping fish, the cormorants would also get in on the act, seeking to feed on the “crumbs falling off the table”. Food is the motivating factor in these scenarios.
At the fag end of the winter migratory season, if a mixed group of migratory waders, particularly those known to take a particular flyway, occupy a vast piece of real estate in an estuary or wetland, huddled together, one possibility can be assumed straightaway. They have hit the boarding area and a majority of those waders would be bound for their breeding grounds in no time.
Take-off from Covelong
On March 19, at the Kelambakkam-Covelong brackish water system, a variety of waders — common redshank, marsh sandpiper, common greenshank, curlew sandpiper and stints among them — were parked together in a vast congregation. The camera did not do justice to the size of the mass-up, capturing only a small portion of it, probably only a quarter of the actual horde.
A common redshank in growing breeding plumage at Kelembakkam on March 19, 2024. Photo: Prince Frederick | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
There is reason to entertain the idea that vast groups in that avian congregation might be on the verge of a flight back to the breeding grounds via the Central Asian flyway. These waders are togged up in much of their breeding plumage.
