41 bird species found in Himachal wetlands
June 12th, 2011 - 5:05 pm ICT by IANSShimla, June 12 (IANS) Forty-one waterbird species have been found breeding in the Pong Dam wetlands of Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra Valley, wildlife officials said here Sunday.
“Over 8,000 breeding waterbirds, both local and migratory, of 41 species were recorded during a one-day census carried out by the state wildlife department and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS),” Chief Wildlife Warden A.K. Gulati told IANS.
BNHS assistant director S. Balachandran also participated in the dawn-to-dusk summer census, conducted for the first time.
Earlier, the wildlife department used to conduct census of waterbirds only in winter when millions of birds from as far as Russia, Poland and China descend across the wetlands.
Gulati said that most of the birds were found in different stages of breeding.
“The estimation is done by recording evidence of breeding such as nests, eggs and chicks.”
The recorded migratory species included the small Pratincole, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Blue-tailed Bee-Eater and Green Bee-Eater.
Range officer of Pong wetlands D.S. Dadwal said the influx of birds were seen in the Nagrota Suriyan, Sathana, Sansarpur Terrace and Rancer Island areas.
The Pong Dam wetlands, some 250 km from Shimla, are also home to many native birds like the red jungle fowl, large Indian parakeet, Indian cuckoo, bank myna, wood shrike, yellow-eyed babbler, black ibis, paradise flycatcher, crested lark and the crested bunting.
The bar-headed goose, the world’s highest-altitude migrant, is a regular winter visitor.
During a two-day bird census by the wildlife department in January this year at the Pong reservoir, over 132,000 migratory waterbirds of 95 species were recorded.
The Pied Avocet - a wading bird species - was spotted for the first time.
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- With 40,000 winged visitors, Pong wetlands a tiny paradise - Nov 29, 2011
- Winged visitors keep date with Pong wetlands - Nov 17, 2010
- Himachal gets new feathery guest - Jan 17, 2011
- Signals from a ruddy shelduck in Pong wetlands - Mar 23, 2011
- Know the bird and count it too - at Pong wetlands - Jan 25, 2011
- Now GPS to monitor winged visitors to Himachal - Jan 22, 2011
- Tagged birds return to Pong wetlands from China - Dec 27, 2011
- Migratory birds declining, government monitoring habitat - Nov 30, 2011
- Himachal to promote bird spotting - Jan 10, 2010
- Pong wetlands hosting over 100,000 feathered guests (Feb 2 is World Wetlands Day) - Feb 02, 2012
- 40,000 bar-headed geese roosting in Himachal now (With Image) - Jan 20, 2010
- Himachal plans major development around Pong wetlands - Feb 09, 2011
- Record sighting of migratory ducks at Himachal's Pong Dam - Jan 18, 2010
Tags: bee eater, bird census, bombay natural history society, chief wildlife warden, crested lark, dadwal, dawn to dusk, eggs and chicks, indian cuckoo, kangra valley, migratory waterbirds, native birds, natural history society, paradise flycatcher, red jungle fowl, state wildlife department, valley wildlife, wading bird species, waterbird species, winter visitor