People in Kerala started reading more about the migratory bird, rosy pastor , after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan referred to it in the Biodiversity Congress held at Thalassery. He was making a political allusion, but it managed to get people keen over the fact that the existence of such birds throws light on the issue of climate change . We asked experts how much of an indicator this is of environmental issues in our society.Professor Dilip KG, from the department of Sociology of Sree Sankaracharya University, Kochi, an expert on the subject, says that unusual migratory birds coming to Kerala is definitely an indicator of climate change. “Prominent books on birds by famous ornithologists, such as Salim Ali and Induchoodan, do not find a mention of birds such as the rosy pastor, which often thrive in arid conditions. Birds such as desert whetear, Siberian stonechat, buntings and Eurasian wryneck are other examples. The rosy pastor was first mentioned in books that came after 1980. Spotting them in Kerala in large numbers is a subtle sign of climate change.” He adds that he recently spotted the rosy pastor and barn swallow, near Vallom in Kochi.Another avid bird watcher, Polly Kalamassery, a retired employee of FACT, Kochi, does not agree with the rosy pastor-climate change angle. “The phenomenon could be true, but I do not think the rosy pastor is the apt example. On the other hand, pelicans have started to breed in places such as Angamaly for the past three years. This could be an indication of Kerala witnessing a hotter climate. Migration patterns change when birds find their breeding or wintering places susceptible.”Praveen J, coordinator of Bird Count India, says the rosy pastor, more commonly known as the rosy starling is not a rare migratory bird in Kerala; it has been a regular winter visitor for at least the past three decades. “It breeds in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and around 80 to 90 per cent of its population spends winter in the Indian subcontinent. A lot of surveys have been conducted regarding migratory birds from a long time; when we got the information that the bird was spotted, we probed whether there is an increase in the bird numbers, when compared to the earlier times. Though not through any official report or a published information, we found through scientific analysis that compared to the common myna and jungle myna, after the 1990s, 2000 and 2010, rosy starling numbers have definitely increased in Kerala.”He says there is one explanation that if more birds of this species are being spotted here, then it is probable that its number has seen a decrease in other places in India.“However, this trend has not been noticed in the country so far. Another argument is that the rosy starling’s global population might have increased and it might be expanding and finding fresh wintering habitats which could include the wetlands and open areas in Kerala.”Praveen points out that the number of peacocks and peafowls have shot up across Kerala. “Buntings definitely figure in the list of the unusual birds now being spotted in Kerala. While there was not even one species of bunting before 2008, there are now around six spotted in Kerala, of which three species have become annual and regular.”Another aspect of the bunting’s migration is that they also breed in Central Asia. Compared to earlier times when they migrated to Maharashtra and Gujarat, they are increasingly being seen in Karnataka and Kerala now. He views this as an after effect of several interlocked changes that might be happening in their breeding areas, caused by changes in agricultural practices, habitat conversion or global warming leading to increase in insect life in colder regions. This, however, has to be backed by some solid scientific studies in their breeding regions. “Given that extensive studies have been conducted in Kerala from the very beginning, there is hardly any chance that the prevalence of the bunting would have been missed out earlier. My gut feel is that this increasing number of buntings and rosy starlings in Kerala has little to do with any climatic changes in Kerala, which is a very tiny part of its wintering range. On the contrary, it might be a more global phenomenon.” Ornithologists are increasingly finding new birds in Kerala, which usually flew to arid regions, says Vishnupriyan Kartha, secretary of the Cochin Natural History Society. “Birds can sense changes in climate better than humans, though without conducting a controlled study we can’t say that they hint at the intensity of climate change.”He also says that they are currently preparing a Bird Atlas, which is a five-year project comprising of the birds seen across Kerala. “After its completion, we could look at large at the frequency at which they are spotted and the months when they are spotted. That way, we would get an idea about the bird population.” Birds such as ruddy shelduck, blue and white flycatcher, blue headed bunting, black-legged kittiwake, eastern Orphean warbler and pectoral sandpiper are a few birds which were spotted in various parts of Kerala, of late. Climate change might have adverse effects on birds, stresses Dilip, adding that they could be under threat of extinction, and it could influence their migrating patterns. “Birds such as the Nilgiri flycatcher and laughing thrush usually seen in high altitude areas are now seen in Munnar.”Nameer PO, head of Centre of Wildlife Studies, Kerala Agriculture University, Thrissur, says, “We have been getting clear indications of climate change through migratory birds, and this has been happening in the last decade. Details of birds, where presence has never been recorded in the State has been noted. Apart from that, there is an abundance of unreported birds.” He adds that they are undertaking studies regarding this.

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