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Bar-headed geese keep date with Pong wetland
This season, so far, the number of the migratory bird at the wetland has reached 43,050, more than previous year’s count of 29, 443; official attributes high influx to early winter
With swampy grasslands in Pong Dam wetlands in the Himalayan foothills agog with sharp calls and flapping wings of tens of thousands of exotic birds, one noticeable regular group of visitors—the bar-headed geese—has continued to keep date with its favourite winter haunt.
According to fortnightly bird estimation conducted on December 16, of total 71,424 birds belonging to 93 exotic and resident species recorded at Pong Wetland, 60% are bar-headed geese.
This season, so far, the number of bar-headed geese at Pong wetland has reached 43,050, said Ajay Kumar, assistant conservator of forest (ACF), Pong Dam.
It is more than the previous year’s winter’s count of 29, 443, he added.
With two distinctive black bars across its neck, the goose is the world’s highest-altitude migratory bird species. They are known to fly above 8000-metre over the Himalayan mountains.
Kumar attributes large influx of geese to early winters. Elegant-shaped bird descends at the Pong wetland in large numbers starting from October and stays here till March.
“They fly thousands of kilometres over the Himalayan Mountains, from their native habitat in high-altitude lakes in Central Asia to avoid the extreme winter chill,” said Kumar.
This year, there was an early onset of winters resulting in an increased count of the migratory bird and their number is likely to multiply in coming days as temperatures plummet further, added the wildlife official.
Low water level exposing more marshes for roosting and feeding, Kumar said, was the added factor for their arrival in such great numbers.
Enormous rise in bird influx
He said that influx of bar-headed geese has grown enormously in Pong Wetland from 5,500 in 2001 to over 70, 000 in recent years.
Highest number 71,800 was recorded in 2015. It was the largest population of these birds anywhere across the world in a non-breeding season.
Listed under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the estimated global population of bar-headed geese is believed to be around 1.20 lakh.
Other bird species at the wetland
Among other species that have descended in large number are eurasian coot (8,170); northern pintail (3,967); green-winged teal (3,841); little cormorant (1,473); common pochard (1,445); and gadwall (1,245), told Kumar.
The annual bird census will be conducted on January 29-30.
The Pong Dam lake, constructed on the Beas in 1960, was declared a bird sanctuary in 1983 and given the status of wetland of national importance in 1994. In 2002, it got the status of the Ramsar site.
The reservoir, covering an area measuring 24,529 hectares with 15,662 hectares area under wetland, is among the top 10 sites that attract a larger number of migratory birds. Last year, a total of 1.15 lakh birds of 103 species were recorded in the wetland.
