Context
A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata) was recorded at Najafgarh Jheel in Delhi-NCR, marking only the fifth documented sighting in India in about 150 years. The sighting highlights the ecological importance of urban and peri-urban wetlands for migratory birds.
Explanation
- The Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is a migratory shorebird/wader belonging to the family Scolopacidae.
- It breeds in northern Siberia, particularly from the Lena River delta to the Kolyma region.
- During migration, it travels south through East Asia, mainly to non-breeding grounds in Australia and New Zealand.
- It follows the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, one of the world’s major migratory bird routes.
- It inhabits coastal and inland wetlands, freshwater and hypersaline habitats, feeding on seeds, worms, molluscs, crustaceans and insects.
- Its global population is declining due to wetland loss, habitat degradation, altered water flows and pollution.
- It is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
- Najafgarh Jheel, part of the broader Central Asian Flyway landscape, provides important feeding and resting habitat for migratory waterbirds.
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