panaji winged tourists are landing directly along coastal areas of the state seemingly undaunted by rainy conditions even at this stage of the year the birds some of who are mere passingthrough migrants are waiting to recoup their energies before taking off on the long arduous haul to their winter destinations the destinations as far as the african coast a nonstop flight for the birdsthese are mostly shore birds and flocks of them have arrived the european roller eurasian cuckoo osprey steppe gull and others are here amur falcon and jacobins cuckoo are among those which will arrive soon said savio fonseca chief naturalist at a company that conducts bird trips for touristsmild winter conditions typical in goa are yet to set in but the arrival of the early birds is timed to perfection and in sync with natures cycleat plateaus where migrant birds halt the grass which was just a feet long earlier grows quickly to about five feet in 15 days after monsoon it is breeding season for various species of insects on plateaus the caterpillars of moths and butterflies feed on the grass nature has sprouted for them the birds in turn rack up enough proteins for their flight feeding on these insects fonseca saidgoas plateaus many of them now industrial and institutional hubs harbour micro habitats with unique floral and faunal biodiversity though the real estate development lobby usually considers these to be wastelands a scientist from indian institute of science pronoy baidya said lateritic plateaus are biodiversity refugia hidden within goa and are of ecological importance sadly the majority of development occurs on such plateaus as they are regarded as wastelands this attitude must change and future development activities must also take biodiversity management into accountthe plateaus are still greener than usual due to the extended monsoon longbilled pipit and other birds have been sighted on some plateaus montagues harrier was spotted on the verna plateau among shore birds eurasian oystercatcher and pacific golden plovers have been sighted on agacaim and morjim beaches mandar bhagat birder and cofounder goa bird conservation network saideurasian cuckoo one of the early migrants has been spotted recently on the biodiversityrich socorro plateau where birders and enthusiasts documented 600 species of birds amphbians reptiles insects and assorted plant life breeding in a wide spectrum of habitats across europe and asia the eurasian cuckoo even leaves the eggs in foster care from goa after about a weeks halt it flies with the wind blowing from northeast to southwest to africa a journey of immense endurance of about eight days nonstop flight fonseca saidthe wind direction is another boon for the avian navigators jacobin cuckoo that heralds arrival of monsoon flies with the southwest monsoon wind from africa to india after the monsoon it flies back with the force of reverse windthe covid19 pandemic hit tourism but the winged visitors continued their migration this winter birders expect the usual avian groups to arrive due to late rainfall the wetlands