Bird Watch: Waders arrive to escape the harsh climate in upper regions

Among these visitors are Ruff, Common Snipe, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, and various sandpipers.

The Common Redshank is one of the birds that has become abundant in the seasonal streams of the Inter State Chandigarh Region.

With the onset of winter, avian visitors have descended to lower regions, seeking refuge from the harsher climates in the upper reaches.

Wading birds, commonly known as waders, particularly favour marshes and have become abundant in the seasonal streams of the Inter State Chandigarh Region (ISCR). Notable species observed in these flocks include Ruff, Common Snipe, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, and various sandpipers.

These winter visitors, who like to stay in flocks, are categorised as very common, common, or fairly common depending on their sightings. Waders arrive in ISCR at the outset of winter in October and stay until April.

Visit any of the water bodies anywhere, you will find these birds in flocks flying and wandering around their shores. Sukhna Lake, Dhanas Lake in Chandigarh, and River Ghaggar crossing through trans-Ghaggar sectors in Panchkula, etc are a few sites among many where these birds can be easily spotted.

The level of water in the water bodies is also a factor on which the arrival of waders depends. Wading birds prefer to stay in shallow water bodies because it is easy for them to find their diet in shallow water instead of deep.

The most common similarity among these wading birds is the long beaks that help them pick their food in the shape of fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and plants found in shallow wetlands. Waders and shorebirds breed in marshes.

Except for Ruff, it is not easy to tell the male and female birds apart in the Common Snipe, Spotted Redshank, and Common Greenshank. Male and female wader Ruffs are different from each other in their appearances.

First published on: 26-12-2023 at 11:08 IST