A low turnout of migratory ducks at Pallikaranai this year?
The Hindu
Where do the Pallikaranai Marsh and the Perumbakkam wetland stand as a refugee camp? Five migratory ducks — northern pintail, northern shoveler, garganey, common teal and Eurasian wigeon make up a major constituent.
Wintering migratory birds are refugees, not vactioners. They are fleeing inclement weather conditions — food scarcity a subset of it — in their breeding grounds. In their wintering grounds, they are on the bread line.
They are at the mercy of conditions prevailing at the “refugee camp”. The best refugee camps are those that make residents feel less of a refugee and more at home.
Where do the Pallikaranai Marsh and the Perumbakkam wetland — which in real terms are a composite whole — stand as a refugee camp?
As far as the Marsh goes, five migratory ducks — northern pintail, northern shoveler, garganey, common teal and Eurasian wigeon — make up a major constituent.
K.V.R.K Thirunaranan of The Nature Trust, a voluntary organisation that monitors the Marsh for its bird life with the support of Conservation Authority of Pallikaranai Marshlands (CAPML), says: “These five migratory ducks are barometric species giving a picture of the Marsh’s health. We have been monitoring bird life at the Marsh over the last 13 years along with CAPML, conducting a count every month. In the January 2024 count, we found there were around 2500 migratory ducks, which is a steep drop for this time of the year.
Even last year, around this time, the count of migratory birds was low. Earlier, during many a migratory season, the count of ducks around this time had cleared the 6000 mark comfortably.
The stressor now at the Marsh for birds has largely to do with unseasonal rains (this year, it was the January 7-8 rains). As far as Perumbakkam wetland (a component of Pallikaranai Marsh) goes, debris ending up in the wetland area on account of the development works is adding considerably to the stress. That has to be checked.”
According to the “2023: World Air Quality Report”, India is the third most polluted nation globally and Delhi the most polluted capital city. Though Bengaluru (Rank 673) stands nowhere close to the topmost polluted cities, increasing temperature, irregular rains, growing population and infrastructure are leading to a slow change in the water and air quality of the garden city.