Mumbai: In a tragic incident, four flamingos died when they dashed against a signboard erected along the pond at Seawoods in Nerul at Navi Mumbai in the wee hours of Thursday. Eyewitnesses informed that the flamingos were flying low and it was dark, which could be the reason that they crashed into the signboard. According to eyewitnesses, a flock of around 20-25 flamingos was flying low when some of them suddenly hit a signboard and fell down. The fire brigade was immediately called upon, who rescued the birds along with the animal lovers.“It was dark and it seems that the birds failed to recognise the board and dashed against it, ” said one of the eyewitnesses. In a similar incident, a flamingo had died after it hit a 20-feet signboard of Nerul Jetty in Navi Mumbai in May last year. The locals have called for dismantling of the signboard and replacing it with a small roadside sign. Navi Mumbai is the country’s one of the largest urban destinations for flamingos, with over lakh of birds visiting the city every year during the winter. The civic body has given the tag of Flamingo City to the area following requests from environmentalists. Flamingos start migrating from the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, their breeding area, after the conclusion of monsoon, when water-filled regions in the neighbouring state start drying up. The birds then fly southwards to visit the Navi Mumbai region from November to May, primarily for feeding purposes. The Flamingos start arriving in October, nesting in mud-flats and leaving before the onset of monsoon. According to experts, flamingos like saline and alkaline water in Navi Mumbai region. Soda lakes, salt lagoons and mud-flats form the habitat of flamingos for their food which chiefly comprises crustaceans, worms and blue-green algae, which are abundant in alkaline waters.
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