A birdwatcher's guide for Mumbai's winter

Oystercatcher: This black-and-white wading bird can be spotted at Akshi beach, from October to March. You can also spot it at Bhuigaon beach in Vasai. Pics/ Wikimedia Commons

While we're accustomed to seeing crows, pigeons and sparrows on a daily basis, that's only a minuscule fragment of avian life that our city boasts of.

Nikhil Bhopale

So, it's time to move beyond that bubble, especially during the winter migratory season. Ecologist Nikhil Bhopale shares six unique species that you can try to spot in the city and its suburbs.

Tytler's leaf warbler

Slender with greenish wings, the population of this species is on the decline owing to loss of habitat. Bhopale shares an interesting insight: "It has been recorded in a well-wooded area from a balcony in Vile Parle. So, you may be able to find these kinds of leaf warblers in any well-wooded area in the city, too. They breed in the Himalayas and winter in the southern peninsula. Their length, from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, is only between 10 to 12 cm and their weight is about five to eight grams but they migrate to great distances."

Ultramarine flycatcher

In every habitat, the winter visitors vary. The blue bird with a white belly and supercilium is observed in Karnala and Phansad. It breeds in the Himalayas and spends winters in the southern peninsula. Pic courtesy/ Nikhil Bhopale

Brown-headed gull

"We call them seagulls but they aren't," Bhopale says about the button-eyed birds. These gulls fly to Ladakh and Tibet for breeding and come here in the winter. "They can be spotted throughout the city's beaches and even at the Vashi and Thane creek," he adds. Pic courtesy/ Nikhil Bhopale

Great knot

A medium-sized shorebird, this winter visitor, Bhopale says, is a very uncommon bird for our area but yet is seen in good numbers at Akshi beach in Alibaug.

Crab plover

Spotting the long-legged species at Bhuigaon is a winter speciality, Bhopale informs, especially because they are less in number in our region to begin with.