Migratory / Rare
Every year, the skies become secret highways — birds arriving from Siberia, Mongolia, Central Asia and beyond. A gull in breeding hood, a tern among flamingos, an Amur Falcon mid-journey — They come not to stay, but to remind us that the world is larger, and more connected, than we often imagine.
Black-headed Gull
In breeding plumage, the gull wears a chocolate-brown hood, startlingly different from its usual white-headed look. It flies in from Europe and Central Asia, chasing warmth.
Seasonal Shift. Bhigwan Lake Kenya
Caspian Tern in front of flamingos
A giant with a blood-red bill, sweeping down from Central Asia to winter along our coasts. Unexpected among flocks of elegant flamingos.
Winter Visitor, Thane Creek
Pied Avocet
With its delicate, upturned bill, this traveller from Central Asia sweeps the waters in synchrony—an elegance out of place in muddy flats.
Elegant Strangers, Bhigwan Lake
Srilankan Frogmouth
Not a migrant, but a rare phantom—its wide mouth and leaf-like stillness a shock to the careful eye in the Western Ghats.
Hidden Marvel, Goa Forest
Role Reversal, Bhigwan Lake
Curlew Sandpiper (breeding plumage)
Rust-breasted from Siberia, pausing mid-journey in India before fading back to plain grey. A fleeting surprise of colour.
Passing Flame, Bhigwan lake
Painted Snipe (male and female)
Secretive, with females courting and males brooding—their arrival after monsoons flips nature’s script.
Role Reversal, Bhigwan Lake
Greylag Goose
The ancestor of our domestic goose, arriving from Europe and Central Asia, honking across northern lakes.
Ancestral Guest, LRK
Bar-headed Geese
The highest fliers of all, silently crossing the Himalayas at night to reach Indian plains. A feat unmatched in the natural world.
Sky Nomads, Bharatpur
Amur Falcon
Greatest voyager—Siberia and China to Africa, halting in India in swirling flocks. A living miracle of endurance.
Epic Voyager, Lonawala Lake