As the hills of Mussoorie are receiving snow the Ganga banks are dotted with migratory birds these days. Thousands of migratory birds from the Palearctic region which include Mangolia, China and Russia have darted to Bhimgoda barrage and Misserpur wetlands and also Asan barrage of Dehradun. Surprisingly, 36 Rajhans have come this year, a figure which is much more as compared to the previous years.
Speaking to The Pioneer, the well-known ornithologist Dinesh Bhatt of Gurukul Kangri University said, “As many as 36 individuals of the species have been spotted in a flock of bar- headed geese at Misserpur ghats recently by our team. These birds come to India for their feeding needs after the countries in the Northern region are frozen in the winter. Normally these geese come from highlands of 7000 to 8,000 feet.”
Notably, bar-headed goose, commonly called as Rajhans, is the only bird reported to cross the Himalayas and its highest peaks such as Everest, said Bhatt. “Most of the migratory birds come via Brahmaputra valley and they follow the same route year after year. The northern hemisphere getting frozen during the winter prompt these birds to travel down to the low lands to find food. Haridwar has many wetlands and Misserpur ghats of Ganga offer perfect climatic conditions to these migratory birds,” he added.
When asked about the rising number of these birds being spotted in these parts of the world , Bhatt said, “There might be multiple reasons. The most important of them may be the fact that mining remains banned in the Ganga river region. This might have given a welcome signal to the birds. The birds convey to their fellow mates to come to the Ganga region with better environment and feeding zones.”
Mention worthy, the avian diversity of our country is substantially rich. Of 10,000 species of birds in the world, about 1300, including 350 migratory species, are found in India. The longest travelled distance observed by the ornithologists by migratory bird is of Arctic Tern which travels 18,000 km from the southern pole star of Canadian regions. Second is American golden Plover which comes from Tundra region to Argentina, covering 16000 km.
