In the Pied Cuckoo campaign, MigrantWatchers have contributed 363 sightings of this wonderful species so far (until 15 July 2011). A summary of these sightings from places to where the Pied Cuckoo migrates shows that it does, by-and-large, arrive in advance of the monsoon, but the exact dates are variable.

To illustrate the general pattern of migration of this species, we have put together this animated map, which shows the progression of Pied Cuckoo migration across the country in advance of the monsoon.

This animation has been made by selecting March-to-July sightings from all Pied Cuckoo reports in the MigrantWatch database between 1 July 2007 and 15 July 2011. To compare these sightings with the onset of the monsoon, we have also added in lines depicting the normal onset of the monsoon (digitised from a map available from IMD Pune).

In March and April, almost all sightings are from southern India, where the species is known to be resident year-round. This remains so until the middle of May. In the third week of May, the first migrant sightings appear, in the West and the North-east. As the monsoon hits the Andamans, the first birds in northern India are seen. More and more birds are subsequently seen across the West, North and East. By the time the monsoon reaches Kerala (in the first week of June), Pied Cuckoos are everywhere, except perhaps the extreme West and North-West.

Where are the gaps in information? Do you see patterns that would be interesting to follow up? Do leave a comment below.

Thanks, of course, to all MigrantWatchers who have contributed their Pied Cuckoo sightings!

Where are the birds going? Article in OPEN Magazine, 4 June 2011 by Shubhangi Swarup. Talks about ringing and satellite tracking work by BNHS; and mentions Kunta, our heroic Grey Wagtail!

News articles about Pied Cuckoo arrival in 2011.

Tracking the cuckoo. By Marianne de Nazareth, The Hindu, 5 June 2011.
Please note this clarification. The article says that MigrantWatch data shows that the arrival of the Pied Cuckoo does not herald the onset of the monsoon. On the contrary, our conclusion (based on 2009 and 2010 sightings) was that “Pied Cuckoos often do arrive at a location before the monsoon does, but the degree to which they do so varies with location and year.”

African bugler of Indian monsoon is back. By Vikram Jit Singh, Times of India, Chandigarh, 7 June 2011.
Vikram is a keen MigrantWatcher!

Call of the cuckoo brings hope of rain. The Telegraph, Kolkata, 7 June 2011.
Note the comment from the director of IMD Bhubaneswar: “There is no confirmed scientific finding to relate the arrival of the monsoon clouds with the birds.” In fact, MigrantWatchers have contributed data to show that there is!

You can see all recent Pied Cuckoo sightings here.

New research (by the BNHS and others) on Bar-headed Geese based on satellite-tracking shows that the geese display amazing feats while crossing the HImalayas on migration. They can climb many thousand metres in altitude in only a few hours; and do so without the assistance of tailwinds. Wonderful studies like this add greatly our understanding of Bar-headed Goose migration!

Press coverage:
Wise geese chase sinks a myth – Telegraph (Kolkata)
High-flying geese don’t need winds – The Hindu

The original research article:
The trans-Himalayan flights of Bar-headed Geese.

Migratory birds are renowned the world over for heralding the changing seasons. World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD), observed on the second Saturday of May each year, encourages us to celebrate these wonderful species and to renew our commitment to conserve them. This is a day to spread a message, take action or even just spare a thought for migratory birds and the challenges they face in our changing world. These challenges are many; this year’s theme is land use change.

This year, WMBD in India was marked by a number of events across the country. At Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir, students from various educational institutions came together to participate in an awareness programme built around the theme of land use change and bird migration (Newspaper article). There was also a two-day workshop organized at the Jammu University based on the same theme. In Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, a photo exhibition featuring migratory birds and a field trip to a nearby bird sanctuary were organized to mark the day (Newspaper article). J.C. Uttangi, a seasoned campaigner for migratory birds in north Karnataka, was felicitated on the day in Dharwad, Karnataka (Newspaper article). A scientist himself, Uttangi expressed concern over the lack of awareness and the need for more scientific research into bird migration in the Indian context. News also emerged from Gujurat of efforts by the State to improve the conservation status of a number important migratory bird destinations across the state (Newspaper article).

If you are aware of any other events that were organized across the country, please let us know by leaving a comment on this blog. We would also like to hear from you about what you think would be a good way to celebrate this day in coming years.

For most birdwatchers in India, WMBD is a time to say goodbye to our winter visitors, while us less fortunate ones prepare to face the brunt of the Indian summer. This is also a good time for MigrantWatchers to call an end to the winter migration season for 2010-11, and to upload their species last sighting data. Please take a moment to login to the MigrantWatch website and update your records.

Many birders who keenly monitor wetlands across the country have had a somewhat disquieting year. It seems that several migratory birds across the country have been giving some of their usual haunts a miss. Newspaper articles^1-6 over the past months have reported lower number of birds or few species of birds from wetlands across the country. Even some of the most widespread and common migrants like the Garganey have not been seen at a number of locations across their recorded distribution in India.

Reports from the latest Asian Waterbird Census suggest that a number of regular migrants at Delhi’s Okhla Bird Sanctuary, like the Black-tailed Godwit and Garganey (photo), did not turn up this year, while several other species like Gadwall and Bar-headed Goose arrived in much smaller numbers^1,2. Similar patterns have been reported from the Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur³ and sites across Maharashtra⁴ and Karnataka^5,6.

The media reports, mostly informed by local expertise, have suggested that apart from the usual suspect (habitat loss), unseasonal rains just before the onset of winter are a major reason for the altered patterns. The most severely affected habitats appear to be natural and man-made wetlands that lie downstream of large dams in rain-affected areas. The argument is that water released from the dams submerged islands presumably making conditions unfavourable for a number of species such as the Garganey that forage in shallow water.

MigrantWatch Data

A glance at the MigrantWatch data also seems to suggest that some of the species have been reported from fewer locations this year as compared to last year. (Links lead to MigrantWatch data on the species.)

The Garganey (Anas querquedula) was not reported from Hyderabad, Pune and Nagpur this season (2010-2011) but it was reported from these locations last season (2009-2010). The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) was reported from Jamnagar in Gujarat and Udaipur in Rajasthan last season (2009-2010) but not this season. The Common Pochard (Aythya farina) during 2010-11 has been reported less than half as often and from far fewer locations than during the 2009-10 or 2008-09 seasons. The Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) was only reported from Uttarakhand, Goa and two locations in Gujarat this season; last season it was also reported from locations in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.  The Black-tailed Godwit also was not reported from locations in Goa, Kerala and Karnataka this season.

We should caution that these findings (about MigrantWatch sightngs) should not be taken as definitive. Since the total number of sightings reported to MigrantWatch in the 2010-2011 season is lower than in the previous season (1,887 versus 2,745), it is possible that the absence of species from particular sites or States may simply reflect the lower reporting rate. Note also that MigrantWatch does not have the goal of assessing year-to-year changes in species distribution or abundance — for that, the Asian Waterbird Census is the appropriate source of information.

Still, sightings reported to MigrantWatch  contribute to an overall picture of what is happening to our migrant species. So please do upload your sightings for this season to MigrantWatch so that the combined information becomes more and more valuable.

While it is not new that climate (including rainfall) can affect the distribution of waterbirds, much remains unknown. For instance, where do the displaced migrants go? Do they merely redistribute themselves locally, moving to other wetlands created by the rains? Or, do the changes in rainfall patterns bring about much larger-scale changes in bird migrations? If you have information or an opinion on these questions, please do add a comment to this post.

Newspaper Articles –
1. Some sightings, several misses at Asian waterbird census; Hindustan Times, New Delhi, January 24, 2011
2. Migratory bird count falls sharply in Delhi; The Hindu, New Delhi, March 08, 2010
3. Jairam blasts Gehlot over dry Bharatpur sanctuary; The Pioneer, New Delhi, November 26, 2010
4. Migratory birds fail to weather rain, fall in numbers; The Times of India, Pune, December 11, 2010
5. Migratory bird numbers go south; The Hindu, Mysore, December 22, 2010
6. Urban migration? Not anymore for Bangalore birds; Express Buzz, Bangalore, Feb 16, 2011

Article on bird migration in the New Indian Express. by Raman Kumar. You can download a pdf of the article here.

Even if you’re not on Twitter, you can follow the exciting adventures of Dinara. This female Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius) is one among nine birds that have been fitted with state-of-the-art satellite tags by scientists at the Sociable Lapwing Project, a collaborative effort by BirdLife International, Swarovski and The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Thanks to ‘The Amazing Journey’ – the popular face of this project – internet users can follow, real time, the migratory movements of these birds. The tags have revealed that these nine Sociable Lapwings, which breed in Kazakhstan, overwinter in places as far apart as Saudi Arabia and India. Dinara herself was at the Little Rann of Kutch over the new year. Learn more about the life of one of the planet’s rarest birds at The Amazing Journey. And if you live close to Ahmedabad, keep an eye out for Dinara.

Check out Sociable Lapwing data on MigrantWatch, and add your sightings!

Going (pied) cuckoo over rains: As the searing heat of the summer intensifies, bringing life to a standstill in most parts of India, a majestic bird takes off from its wintering grounds in east Africa on a long eastward journey…

MigrantWatch Pied Cuckoo Campaign launched for the 2010-2011 season.