Real Impact: Clean up Drive Helps Rare Bird Return to Mumbai After 80 Years!

Last spotted in Mumbai in 1939, this year, the Great Bittern made a long-awaited comeback in the economic capital.

by Tanvi Patel January 11, 2019, 7:12 pm

Clean-up drives help the environment and also restore the natural beauty lost to decades of urban development.

In the case of Mumbai, a clean-up drive has brought back a rare bird after 80 years!

Last year, we brought you the story of how a beach clean-up resulted in the endangered Olive Ridley Turtles nesting on a Mumbai beach. And this time, nearly ten months later, a Great Bittern was spotted in Charkop, in Mumbai’s Kandivali.

The Great Bittern (or Eurasian bittern) belongs to the heron family of birds. These birds prefer living in the thick vegetation surrounding water bodies because they mainly feed on amphibians and small mammals, and reptiles such as crabs, shrimps, molluscs, frogs and shrimps.

They are also very shy, which is why you will spot them, if you are extremely lucky, in reed beds.

The birds are so shy that if they catch a glimpse of you, they are known to point their bills towards the sky and freeze, hoping to be camouflaged by the reeds around them.

Last spotted in Mumbai in 1939, this year, the Great Bittern made a long-awaited comeback in the economic capital.

Although there was one more report in 2017 about a spotting of the Bittern, this sighting can only be a positive sign that it wasn’t a one-off chance of the migratory bird’s return, but potentially, a recurring phenomenon.

Speaking to The Times of India, Neeraj Chawla, a passionate birder, said, “At around 8.15 am, we saw the Great Bittern come out to sit and preen in the sun. We went on clicking pictures for almost half-an-hour as it sat there undisturbed, cleaning its feathers. We also saw a Yellow Bittern; the latter is not rare but a treat to watch, nevertheless.”

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Rare bird spotted at Bhandup, Mumbai's first sighting in 104 years

WRITTEN BY  Virat A Singh 

Updated: Jan 2, 2019, 06:40 AM IST

Birdwatching on the first day of the year proved to be quite an exciting affair for an Andheri-based birding enthusiast Akshay Shinde who spotted a Sykes's nightjar at the Bhandup Pumping Station, making it the first documented sighting from Mumbai and adjoining areas in 104 years.

What makes this spotting important and interesting as per renowned ornithologist, photographer and naturalist Sunjoy Monga is the fact that there is just one specimen of Sykes's collected in October 1915 from somewhere in Kalyan area, which is a part of the Bombay Natural History Society's (BNHS) collection.

"There are few unusual bird sightings that are being reported from Mumbai currently and it could be due to cold, unusual weather condition and drought conditions in north-west part of India. Nightjars are nocturnal and very elusive birds and the difference between nightjar species is also very subtle and hence it was a soft flight image that Shinde managed to take helped in tis identification," shared Monga, adding that Sykes's Nightjar is commonly found on the north-west region of the country, including Gujarat and Rajasthan boundaries.

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11-year-old birder from Mumbai has documented over 75 bird species

Joshua Bosco developed an interest in bird spotting at the age of four.

MUMBAI Updated: May 28, 2018 15:52 IST

Badri Chatterjee
Hindustan Times

Unlike most children who spend their idle hours glued to their phones, television, or computers, 11-year-old Chembur resident Joshua Bosco, a Class 5 student from Somaiya School in Vidyavihar spends his time bird watching. Armed with his weapon of choice, a digital camera, he has so far documented over 75 bird species in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

One of the youngest members of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Joshua picked up the hobby at the age of four and joined the pan-India wildlife research organisation at five. The budding enthusiast aims to become an ornithologist.

Bosco maintains a bird book, where he logs details of the new birds he comes across. His documentation has helped his classmates identify and learn about various avian species.

“On most days, I can hear different sounds but I don’t see the birds. This forces me to keep searching for them. The songs of the Magpie Robin excite me every morning, and I rush to see where they are perched. What is even more exciting is to see the colour of their eyes and feathers, and how they make their nests,” said a starry-eyed Joshua.

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Rare wetland bird spotted for first time in Mumbai at Thane Creek

The bird was spotted by wildlife photographer Sudhir Gaikwad Inamdar near the Bhandup sewage pumping station.

MUMBAI Updated: Mar 01, 2018 00:21 IST

Badri Chatterjee
Hindustan Times

The Grey-headed Lapwing, an aquatic bird found in Southeast Asian wetlands, was spotted on Friday for the first time at the Thane Creek, Mumbai’s flamingo sanctuary.

The bird was spotted by wildlife photographer Sudhir Gaikwad Inamdar near the Bhandup sewage pumping station.

“Since Friday, I spotted the bird thrice over the weekend but it hasn’t been seen for the last two days. This is a vagrant bird. It is likely that it lost its way and drifted away from its flock. In such situations, they make a landing at ecologically favourable areas, get energised and fly towards their original habitat,” said Inamdar.

It is possible that the bird has already left the creek, added Inamdar.

Officials from the state government confirmed the discovery and said it was a rare find, especially in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

“The photo-documentation of this bird at the Thane creek has been confirmed as the first such documentation in the MMR. We have been witnessing several such rare species making their landing along the creek due to the presence of good nutrient-load. It is possible that they were not noticed earlier and are being documented now,” said N Vasudevan, additional principal chief conservator of forest, state mangrove cell.

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Birds vanishing fast from Mumbai, reveals study

Analysis of Mumbai BirdRace data from 2008 to 2017 reveals drastic decline in bird sightings

MUMBAI Updated: Feb 01, 2018 10:17 IST

Snehal Fernandes
Hindustan Times

Degradation and loss of habitats to make way for construction in and around Mumbai has led to a significant decline in sightings of birds in the past 10 years, revealed an analysis of bird sightings logged during the Mumbai BirdRaces between 2008 and 2017.

A drastic decline in sightings was recorded at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) from 101 in 2008 to 52 in 2017. this was followed by Uran (179 to 79) and Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary (102 to 46). In the past two years, eight species have neither been sighted nor heard at the SGNP alone. While six species have not been recorded at any of the seven locations visited during the bird race.

“Birds are important for the ecology because they help in pollination and seed dispersion and maintain water table in forests,” said H N Kumara, senior scientist, conservation biology, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Tamil Nadu. “Bird races help in spreading awareness and can work as a stepping stone for citizen science movements, which can lead to large-scale scientific monitoring of birds across the country to help in their conservation.”

The 14th Mumbai BirdRace will be held on February 4 with 260 bird enthusiasts, including 20 children, participating in the event.

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The Great Bittern Reveals Itself To Mumbai After 79 Years

Nov 29, 2017, 16:24 IST | Ranjeet Jadhav

Last Spotted In Vile Parle In 1939, Migratory Bird Makes Itself Cozy In Vasai Birding Hotspot

The Great Bittern is a wading, partially migratory bird that is distributed in the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Asia and Africa. While its population stands at around three lakh, the species, experts said, hadn't been seen making pit stops to the city. However, on November 26, birder Akshay Shinde, happened to accidentally spot it during a birding trip with other wildlife enthusiasts. "We were at a birding hotspot called Madhuban in Vasai, when I saw two large birds fly parallel to us. The adult bird kept flying in a straight direction, while the juvenile took a halt. That's when I took pictur­es of the bird," said the zoology graduate, who is currently pursuing his MSc in wildlife from Bhartiya Vidyapeeth Bhavan's College.

Shinde got in touch with bird expert and wildlife photographer Monga, who confirmed it was a Great Bittern. "I also posted the pictures on several birding groups to verify the same. The bird was last spotted 79 years ago," he said.

Monga said, "More sightings of rare bird species in the city, indicates that there are habitats in the region that are pristine enough to support migratory birds."

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'More awareness about birds species today through citizens' participation'

Vijay Singh | TNN | Jan 14, 2017, 06.38 PM IST

MUMBAI: There is much more awareness today about the vivid bird species in and around Mumbai region, thanks to informative online blogs, books and also enthusiastic citizens participation in events like bird count, bird watching among others. As the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) gears up for its pan-India bird count on January 15 by inviting nature lovers and naturalists to participate by registering via Google Earth, veteran bird watcher and author, Sunjoy Monga, is releasing an in-depth nature guide called `Birds of the Mumbai region


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Mumbai: Wildlife board nod to 3 bird sanctuaries around city

Monday, 7 December 2015 - 7:55am IST | Place: Mumbai | Agency: dna | From the print edition

The sanctuaries will be at Mahul-Sewri, TSC-NRI wetlands off Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai and Panje-Funde near Uran.

There's hope for the next generation to continue spotting migratory birds, especially flamingos, as the State Wildlife Board has approved creation of three bird sanctuaries around Mumbai. The sanctuaries will be at Mahul-Sewri, TSC-NRI wetlands off Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai and Panje-Funde near Uran.

The chief minister-headed wildlife board gave clearance for these three sanctuaries on Friday. "This is an important decision for the long-term conservation of migratory birds, such as flamingos," read a post-meeting statement.

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Elusive Yellow-legged Buttonquail spotted in Mumbai

By Ranjeet Jadhav |Posted 6 hours

The petite bird was spotted on two separate occasions last week; one of the buttonquails was rescued while the other one was found dead

Bird watchers in the city have an equal reason to rejoice and lament the rare sightings of the usually reticent Yellow-legged Buttonquail. Last week, the bird was spotted on two separate occasions in Andheri (West). However, while one of the quails has been rescued, the other was found dead.

Nevertheless, the recent sightings of the bird in Mumbai have taken the forest department and bird experts by surprise. The bird has been sighted only twice or thrice in the past 15 years in and around the city.

On September 29, Prabhu Rajkumar Swami, naturalist and in-charge of the pet section at Bhavans Nature and Adventure Center (BNAC), received a call regarding the sighting of a tiny bird that crows were trying to attack near the Hansraj Morarji School, adjacent to Bhavan’s College in Andheri (West).

Swami immediately asked the caller to safely rescue the bird and bring it to him so that it could be saved. Swami said, “One of the workers safely rescued the bird and brought it to BNAC. When I first saw the bird, I could not recognise which species it was and so I immediately clicked a few pictures of its and forwarded it to bird expert Adesh Shivkar. He confirmed to me that it was a Yellow-legged Buttonquail.”

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Rare weaver bird spotted in Mumbai after decade

Nikhil M Ghanekar, Hindustan Times

Mumbai, April 12, 2013

First Published: 02:56 IST(12/4/2013)
Last Updated: 02:57 IST(12/4/2013)

The black breasted weaver, a rare migrant bird, was sighted in the city this week after nearly a decade at Dombivli (West). Belonging to the Ploceidae family, the black-breasted weaver is rarely seen in Mumbai or its adjacent satellite cities, but amateur birdwatchers managed to catch a glimpse of some non-breeding males near the Diva-Vasai railway line. The area, they say, is something of a hotspot for birds.

The non-breeding male weaver is distinguished by its yellow head and black neck, which turns grey while breeding. The birdwatchers spotted more than 50 of them, which experts said is a good sign as they were last spotted nesting at Uran in 2002.

While they resemble sparrows in shape, size and features, the species is not related to them at all.

“The weaver is found mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and in the central and north Indian plains,” said Prathamesh Desai, who sighted the bird in Dombivli. “It is a beautiful bird and the males were seen in their non-breeding colours, so we are also hoping to spot a few females and their nesting site as well.”

The black-breasted weaver has rarely been spotted in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, experts said. Naturalist Sunjoy Monga said old reports dating back to 1800’s have a record of a few pairs nesting around Bhandup.

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