A large number of migratory birds have thronged various water bodies located in Himachal Pradesh this winter season. The number of the winged guests is increasing every year at Ramsar wetland of Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary, which has received the largest number of 1,35,000 migratory birds of 93 species this season up to February 14, 2015 marking an increase of 5000 birds compared to last year.
Three years ago, the number of birds converging at the Pong Dam was about 1.20 lakh. The most spectacular increase of winged guests is those of the bar-headed goose whose number has been increasing every year and Pong Dam has become their most favourite destination. The gregarious bar-headed goose feeds at night in the grasslands on the river banks. Many migratory birds have also made their abode in smaller ponds, marshy areas and rivulets around Pong Dam.
The presence of other species has also been spotted in the wetland like common coot, northern pintail, common pochard, tufted pochard, red-crested pochard, common teal, little cormorant , great crested grebe and graying goose. The local and native birds like red jungle fowl, large Indian parakeet, Indian cuckoo, bank mynah wood shrike, paradise flycatcher, crested lark and crested bunting have also joined the charming galaxy of multi-cloured birds in the Pong wetland.
The pretty goose with two distinctive black bars across its neck are the earliest winged guests which start descending in the wetland in October and stay till March end. Pong Dam is one of the largest man-made wetland in the foothills of the Himalayas barely 50 km from Dharamsala. It has assumed the status of international wetland visited by ornithologists from across the world. The lake was created in 1975 when the highest earth-cum rock-filled dam in India was built on Beas for hydel power generation in the wetland zone of Shivalik hill of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. This gigantic lake covers an area of 24,529 hectares (60,610 acres) with wetland portion of 38,700 acres.
According to Tarun Sridhar, Secretary Forest and Wildlife, the State wildlife department in collaboration with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and other international agencies was engaged in conservation, research and scientific documentation of the natural wealth of the country with the view to protect environment and sustainable use of natural resources.
He said that sometime back, the ambitious task of radio-collaring strapped with tiny transmitter, of the migratory birds was started to get authentic data and pattern of the behavior of the migratory birds. The project which is still going on, is likely to cost over Rs40 lakh. “Several natural and man-made water bodies in the State have become safe habitat of the migratory birds. The migratory birds, both water birds and other species, start landing in Himachal Pradesh in mid-November from Siberia, Central Asia, China, cold desert of Tibet and upper Himalayas and stay here till March-April,” he added.
Meanwhile, the wildlife officials and international ornithologists are against granting licenses by the Fisheries Department as the presence of the fishermen is a great irritant to the winged guest and they feel that the fishing should be stopped forthwith. It has also been suggested that the vast potential of tourism in Pong Dam Wildlife Sanctuary should be harnessed. Thousands of tourists from home and abroad would love to watch the beautiful birds from the identified spots equipped with long-range microscopes.
The phenomenon of migration of birds involving millions of them across the world is an intricate yet interesting subject of study for the ornithologists and biologists. The birds are regularly flying across land and oceans negotiating thousands of kilometers encountering inhospitable territories between their breeding and non-breeding habitats.
Many birds fly from one climatic zone to another different region and land with new ecological communities. The mystery and ultimate causes of migration are still unknown to the experts. How birds find their way and how they cope with the physiological difficulties faced by them are some of the questions which have been exciting the biologists.