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It’s been a long wait for the residents of Ambalamugal (near Kochi). For the last six years the winged travellers from Central Asia had refused to drop by on their yearly trip to the southern hemisphere, sometimes as far as the Pacific islands.

This year the teals from Central Asia and Siberia have alighted albeit in reduced numbers. “ It’s been a surprise after 6 year. But the numbers have certainly come down,” said a resident of Ambalamugal. And the timing has also not been perfect. Usually the birds some to the Ambalamugal lake in October - November and stay on till March. This year they have started coming in only a few weeks ago.

The teals are duck-like birds and are the yearly travellers of the Central Asian Indian Flyway. They belong to the Anas Creca family and the most common teals observed are the Pintail Duck and the Bluewinged teal.

The other varieties observed in Kerala are the White Eyed Pochard, Lesser Whistling Teal and Cotton Teal. But the trips of these birds to Kerala have become infrequent and the flock-size has also come down. The teal flock on the move has been described as a 'dark rain cloud,' but the rain cloud is now only its pale shadow. "Migratory birds are a fast disappearing species in Kerala. This has resulted both from domestic tourism as well as pollution. Take Kuttanad for example; the introduction of water sports has been responsible for the absence of migratory teals and ducks in the region in recent times," says P K Uthaman, ornithologist and an environmental activist.

"Tourism certainly is a factor. But the question of migratory birds is a larger one covering a vast geographical area. In the case of teals, the area is from Siberia to Sri Lanka and far. Since wetland migration happens in stages, the birds may have faced problems from the start of their journey or in between. So it's difficult to pinpoint any one source as the sole cause," says Dr E A Jaison, scientist with the Kerala Forest Research Institute. "But definitely the trips of these birds have become rare and sizes have come down. This is not only the case with Ambalamugal, but also with the kole wetlands in Trichur, an area frequented by teals and ducks," he said.

Poaching is another factor which has contributed to the plight of the teals in Kerala. During the 1995-96 period, large scale poaching of teals was reported from Ambalamugal area. A factor that must have forced the birds to give up AmbalSmugal in the last six years.

"Migration of teals to Ambalamugal began in the '80s as Kumarakom became a tourist hotspot. Ambalamugal is a protected area and teals primarily come to this lake for shelter. They go to Kuttanad area for feeding," said Dr Sugathan, ecologist with the Kerala Forest Department.

"Also Amabalamugal is not a natural body. It's an artificial lake. Fluctuations in temperature in water body can severely affect migration patterns," he opined.

"During the '94-'95 period the teals in Ambalamugal came to 1,50,000. That's too much for such a small lake. This Increase in numbers is because the birds were feeling insecure elsewhere," he said pointing to poaching as the chief culprit. The other big problem has been lack of data on migration patterns in various regions of Kerala.

"In 1996, for the first time we noticed around 50,000 teals in Kappayam in Edamalayar. We are yet to give priority to this area which survives primarily on individual initiatives," he said. Dr Shaju Thomas, environmentalist who teaches zoology at Nirmalagiri College, Muvattupuzha, also expressed similar views, "Continuous monitoring of the phenomenon has been a problem and should be given priority. The fluctuations in bird population varies to such a high degree that even a hypothesis is impossible."