Mini Series · Wildlife

Pink City

Navi Mumbai’s pink visitors draw quite an audience and have become the face of conservation for the entire wetland ecosystem.

Our wetlands support bird species like curlews, sand plovers, herons, egrets, stilts, waterhens, sandpipers, and many, many more. Yet among all these birds, the flamingo naturally draws the most attention. With its stunning pink feathers and flamboyant courtship dance, it captures public interest in a way that very few bird species can. It encourages ecotourism, inspires photographers and nature enthusiasts, and attracts attention from institutions and governments alike.

You can see this reflected across Navi Mumbai itself, from references to it as a ‘Flamingo City’ to flamingo statues erected across parks, junctions, and public spaces. The flamingo is a brilliant marketer for its own preservation and that of other wetland species, without ever realising the role it plays.

In collaboration with: Wetland Champion
Where: Navi Mumbai, India
When: 2025–2026

Thousands of flamingos fill a wetland in front of a line of trees and tall apartment buildings — Honourable mention, Secure Nature Love of Mother Wildlife Photography Competition 2026

A dense crowd of lesser flamingos with necks raised in their courtship display

Close view of flamingos in courtship, black-tipped beaks turned in every direction

Six pale flamingos feed with heads underwater, reflected in still blue water

Two pink flamingos feed side by side, heads turned upside down in the water

A flamingo feeds in the rain as a common kingfisher flies past low over the water

Portrait of a single lesser flamingo wading, its neck curved and orange eye bright

A flock of flamingos wading through rain-pocked water

Flamingos take flight above green trees, with hazy hills behind

In many ways, the flamingo’s courtship dance, which is clearly not meant for us, has ended up wooing us all.

See the Secure Nature competition winners Next mini series Morning Walks at the Usha Kiran Palace