El Niño Is Pushing Mumbai's Flamingos Away From Thane Creek — A 20-Year Pattern May Be Breaking

 

Unusual sightings near Mulund Hills suggest Mumbai's most iconic migratory birds are seeking new habitats.

Every year, Mumbai gets a reminder that it is not just a city of 20 million people — it is also a stopover for one of nature's most spectacular migrations. The flamingo season brings upwards of 1.3 lakh birds to the city's wetlands, primarily Thane Creek and the Vashi saltpans, drawing birdwatchers, photographers, and curious residents to the water's edge.

This year, that tradition appears to be under pressure.

Reports from birdwatching communities across Mumbai suggest that flamingo numbers at Thane Creek and Vashi are significantly lower than in previous years — while isolated but growing sightings near Mulund Hills are raising eyebrows among those who track the birds closely.

The timing coincides with a well-documented El Niño cycle that has disrupted ecosystems across the Indian subcontinent. Flamingos are filter feeders, relying almost entirely on cyanobacteria and small crustaceans found in shallow, warm, saline water bodies. When the balance of these water bodies changes — through irregular monsoons, increased evaporation, or shifts in salinity — the birds respond by moving.

"Flamingos are essentially nature's water quality inspectors," notes one ecologist familiar with Mumbai's wetland ecology. "If they're leaving a location, it's almost always because something fundamental has changed in the habitat."

What makes the Mulund Hills sightings particularly interesting is the nature of the location. Unlike the low-lying saltpans of Thane Creek, the Mulund area offers elevation, proximity to the national park buffer zone, and access to cleaner freshwater sources flowing down from the Sahyadri range. These are conditions that flamingos — particularly Lesser Flamingos — have been known to seek when their primary habitats become degraded.

Ornithologists caution that it is too early to call this a permanent shift. Flamingo migration patterns can fluctuate year to year, and a single season of unusual sightings does not constitute a trend. However, if El Niño's effects on Mumbai's wetlands persist into the next monsoon cycle, the shift may become more pronounced.

For Mumbai's birdwatching community, the message is clear: expand your horizon. The flamingos are moving, and they may be showing the city something worth paying attention to.