Thousands of flamingos paint Mumbai city pink amid coronavirus lockdown

Thousands of flamingos flocked Mumbai amid lockdown, creating a dazzling sea of pink

India under lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 found itself suddenly playing host to a massive influx of flamingos. A sea of pink dazzled residents of Navi Mumbai as thousands of flamingos settled along the creek on Thursday morning.

Thousands of the birds have descended upon the nation’s largest city Mumbai in recent weeks, with many congregating in urban areas usually trafficked by humans.

Flamingos traditionally migrate  to Mumbai and the surrounding regions during their feeding and breeding season, which lasts from about October to March. This year, however, city residents have reported seeing an unusually high number of the birds in and around the city, likely due to an unexpected surplus of available space.

According to the Bombay Natural History Society, there has been a 25% increase in flamingo migration since last year, when 1.2 lakh birds had come visiting. This year, over 1.5 lakh birds were spotted just in the first week of April.

The flamingos arrive from the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat and Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan. Some fly in from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Israel.
 

Several celebrities like Raveena Tandon, Dia Mirza and Twinkle Khanna took to Twitter to comment on the stunning visuals.