Once a visitor, greater flamingo now a permanent Gujarat resident

AHMEDABAD: The greater flamingo, the state bird of Gujarat, is now also a resident. This species - which is found in relatively small numbers in the state and was considered a migratory bird - has now been classified as a resident. Experts have now established that the species resides in and has large scale breeding sites within the state.
Forest department officials said a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) states that greater flamingo sub-adults are prone to irregular, nomadic or partially migratory movements throughout the range of the species.In Gujarat, the forest department had earlier classified the greater flamingo as a migratory bird, while the lesser flamingo was considered a resident bird.
This belief has now been belied, as officials have found a large colony and breeding sites within Gujarat. Senior forest officials say Flamingo City in Kutch is a site with sizeable breeding, however there were more lesser flamingoes there.
"We noticed a large number of greater flamingoes are breeding in the state and that they are permanent residents. They were earlier classified as migratory birds but now the forest department classifies both greater and lesser flamingo as residents. The Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat (BCSG) also classified the species as a common resident bird," says conservator of forests, Uday Vora. Vora has been closely associated with the bird census for some two decades.
Vora said greater flamingoes are sighted in lagoons, salt pans and around shallow lakes in Saurashtra and Kutch. The bird is commonly seen in the Little Rann of Kutch, Great Rann of Kutch, Nalsarovar, Thol and along the coast in large numbers at Porbandar, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar. The greater flamingo is uncommon in South Gujarat. The bird breeds in the Great Rann of Kutch in August, he said.
The officials in Ahmedabad said that because of conducive conditions this year, greater flamingoes were seen in Nalsarovar till the last week of May. Usually, they are not sighted after the first week of April, said a forest officer.
Bharat Jethwa, an ornithologist, says, "Gujarat has a long coastline and a large number of inland wetlands. These birds migrate from one wetland to another within the state and breed in Kutch. Hence they are common residents."
According to IUCN, the greater flamingo has a wide range in the Palaearctic ecozone, occurring from North Africa and southern Europe through south-west Asia, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Himalayas to south-eastern China, Korea, and Japan.