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Srinagar, Oct 11 (IANS) The annual migration of birds to the Kashmir Valley begins a little earlier this year as the mountain peaks receive the first snowfall of the season.
Wildlife conservation department officials say more than six lakh migratory birds have already arrived in the valley to escape the extreme cold of their summer homes and spend the winter months in the relatively warmer water bodies of Kashmir.
“So far, more than six lakh migratory birds have arrived here and we expect the number to double by the middle of next month,” Wildlife Conservation Department officials said.
These birds spend their winter months in various water bodies of the valley, including Hokarsar on the outskirts of Srinagar city, Mirgund and Hygam in Baramulla district, Shalbugh in Ganderbal, Chatlam, Wular Lake and Dal Lake in Pulwama district and other large water bodies outside the protected reserves.
About 22 species of migratory birds leave their summer homes in China, Siberia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe to spend the winter in Kashmir.
Most of these bird species include gadwalls, wigeons, shovelers, pintails, mallards, tufted-ducks, ruddy shelducks, greylag geese, smoos, grebes, cormorants, and sandhill cranes.
Of these, greylag geese arrive last while cormorants and sandhill cranes are the arriving birds – spending some time in the valley before migrating to the Indian plains in the winter and back to their summer homes across the Indian plains in the spring.
The flight of thousands of miles by migratory birds to their summer and winter homes is a marvel of aerial navigation that has no parallel in the animal kingdom.
These birds orient their flight towards the Sun during the day, towards the stars at night and towards the geomagnetic field at any time.
Some species can also detect polarized light, which many migratory birds can use for navigation at night.
It is always the largest individual in the flock that leads the flight as this bird is familiar with the flight path.
If for some reason, the largest bird conducting the flight is unable to continue the flight, the second in line takes over.
Each species of migratory birds flies separately, strictly following the adage, birds of one feather flock together.
Thus the teal, mallard, wigeon, shoveler, ruddy shelduck, pintail and pochard have separate flights.
Since migratory birds are most at risk of extinction, an international intergovernmental environmental treaty on wetland conservation, called the Ramsar Convention, was signed in 1971.
The treaty aims to promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands, which are important for biodiversity and sustainable development.
Named after the Iranian city where it was adopted, it creates a framework for national and international cooperation, with certain wetlands designated as being of international importance as Ramsar sites for their ecological character, hydrological functions or value to wildlife.
There are five Ramsar sites in Jammu and Kashmir, including Hokarsar, Shalbugh, Wular Lake and Hygam in the valley and Mansar-Surinsar Lake in Jammu division.
As the wetlands, especially the protected bird sanctuaries, come alive with the arrival of migratory birds in Kashmir, the villagers around these wetlands start hearing the chirping of migratory birds and start seeing the spectacle of color and discipline in the night sky.
Duck tales recounting the stories of the arrival and survival of these courageous spirits once became an important moral tale of the valley passed on by family elders to the younger generation.
Duck stories may have become a thing of the past as children now have digital access to learning texts and history at an earlier age, but the wonder of migratory birds remains an inseparable part of our heritage.
Despite strict anti-poaching laws in Jammu and Kashmir, the threat to migratory birds from poachers still continues.
During the winter months, unscrupulous hunters are seen secretly selling the birds.
However the threat of poaching has been reduced by monitoring and ward staff of the Wildlife Conservation Department.
Poachers’ weapons are confiscated and criminals are tried in court.
Unless people learn that co-existence is the only way for mankind to survive, migratory birds will remain among the most at risk of extinction in the world.
–IANS
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