Migratory birds arrive in Odisha’s Chilika before winter; is climate change to blame?

Subject: Environment

Section: Protected Areas in news

Context:

Migratory birds have started their annual journey to Chilika —India’s largest waterbird habitat in Odisha — ahead of winter this year.
Ducks and wigeon species have been seen this year within the Nalabana bird sanctuary area inside the blue lagoon.

Bird migration to India:

Migratory birds, mostly from beyond the Himalayas in Northern Eurasia, the Caspian region, Siberia, Kazakhstan, Lake Baikal and the remote areas of Russia and neighboring countries visit the Chilika every winter and start their homeward journey before the onset of summer.
In the last winter, as many as 1,131,929 birds of 184 different species had visited Chilika. This included 1,093,049 migratory birds from 105 various species and 38,859 resident birds belonging to 79 species.
Generally the migratory birds fly to Chilika when the temperature here reaches around 30^o, but this year they arrived when the temperature is 33-35^o.
Cause of early arrival: Early onset of winter in their native habitats, recent natural disasters in the Himalayan regions might have pushed them to fly to Chilika, scarcity of food in their native habitats

Migratory routes to India:

Migratory routes are not fixed and in some species part of the population follows one route and parts another. In India, the winter migrants from central Asia and Siberia are thought to use two main routes; one in the west along the Indus valley and the other in the north-east along the river Brahmaputra.

Central Asian flyway (CAF):

CAF covers a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic and Indian Oceans and the associated island chains. The Flyway comprises several important migration routes of waterbirds, most of which extend from the northernmost breeding grounds in the Russian Federation (Siberia) to the southernmost non-breeding (wintering) grounds in West and South Asia, the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory.
The birds on their annual migration cross the borders of several countries. Geographically the flyway region covers 30 countries of North, Central and South Asia and Trans-Caucasus.
The CAF covers at least 279 populations of 182 migratory waterbird species, including 29 globally threatened and near-threatened species, which breed, migrate and winter within the region.
CAF migration routes include the steppes and cold deserts of Central Eurasia, and much of the Himalayan chain, where unique, high-altitude migrations such as those of the Bar-headed Goose, Anser indicus, take place.

The important steps taken for protecting migratory birds are given below:

Rare and endangered species of birds, including migratory birds, are included in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 thereby according them highest degree of protection.
Stringent punishments have been provided for in the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 for violation of the provisions of the Act.
Important habitats of birds, including migratory birds, have been notified as Protected Areas under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 for better conservation and protection of birds and their habitats.
Financial and technical assistance is provided to the State/UT Governments for protection and management of Protected Areas.
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has been established for control of illegal trade in wildlife and its parts and products.

Convention of Migratory Species of Wild Animals:

CMS is also known as the Bonn Convention. It is the only convention that deals with taking or harvesting of species from the wild. It currently protects 173 migratory species from across the globe.
Enforcement Year: November 1, 1983.
The Secretariat was established in 1984.
Parties: 130 Parties to the Convention– 129 countries plus the European Union. Maldives is the latest country to join it.
Species Covered: Convention has two Appendices:
- Appendix I lists migratory species that are endangered or threatened with extinction.
- Appendix II lists migratory species which have an unfavorable conservation status and which require international agreements for their conservation and management.
India has been a party to the Convention since 1983.

Chilika lake and Nalabana Bird Sanctuary:

Chilika Lake is the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia and second largest coastal lagoon in the world, spread over the Puri, Khordha and Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 square kilometres.
Nalbana Bird Sanctuary or Nalbana Island is the core area of the Ramsar designated wetlands of Chilika Lake. It was declared a bird sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972. In the heart of the park, one can see thousands of birds descending during the migratory season.

Source: DownToEarth