Where have the birds gone?

Migratory birds which fly thousands of kilometres from places like Siberia every winter are now increasingly giving the Okhla Bird Sanctuary a miss. Okhla Bird Sanctuary has for long been known as a birdwatcher’s paradise. It has been a haven for over 300 bird species and a stopover for thousands of migratory birds from Central Asia, South Asia, and North Asia including Siberia. But with each passing year, their numbers at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary and other wetlands around Delhi have been declining, owing to various factors. Even this year only a handful made their way to Delhi. Till December, only 11 migratory bird species, and in lesser numbers, were spotted at the sanctuary,...