Okhla Bird Sanctuary improving habitat ahead of arrival of migratory birds

Noida: The forest department is improving the habitat in Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) by making mounts, platforms and barriers in the wetland and removing hyacinth to welcome migratory birds there, officials said on Tuesday

Noida: The forest department is improving the habitat in Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) by making mounts, platforms and barriers in the wetland and removing hyacinth to welcome migratory birds there, officials said on Tuesday.

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The annual exercise of “habitat improvement” often takes around two months, they said. “Before the migratory bird species start arriving here, we work on the maintenance of the sanctuary to make it more welcoming to flocks, so that they stay here for a longer period of time. For this, the most gruesome task is to remove hyacinth which spreads across the lake by the end of monsoon, to such an extent that one cannot even see the water. Removal of hyacinth is important because migratory birds are mostly waterbirds... We will also tie up 20 mounts of hyacinth and as many bamboo platforms over the lake for roosting birds,” said Arvind Mishra, range forest officer, Okhla Bird Sanctuary.

Several barriers will be made as 70% of the sanctuary is covered by water, Mishra said, adding, “Hyacinth is one of the major issues here. The water in the wetland has a flow and thus hyacinth is being carried in by the Yamuna river. So, during the birding season, we build several bamboo barriers to stop this from entering the vicinity of the sanctuary. Sometimes, when the water plants cover over 100-metre radius, the barriers break and need to be repaired again. We cannot put nets because that’s harmful for aquatic animals like turtles as they get stuck. Also, snets are banned under the wildlife Act... This annual task costs between ₹30 and ₹40 lakh.”

Meanwhile, several patches along the sanctuary fell into the river on Tuesday, making huge craters. These are being repaired, said the officials.

The OBS, spread over 400 hectares, is home to nearly 350 species of birds and attracts many migratory birds during the winters, and passage migrants during the summers. Migratory birds start arriving in the sanctuary in October and the maximum number of birds are seen around December. According to the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) 2021, held by the Wetlands International South Asia (WISA) and the Gautam Budh Nagar forest department in January, 8,068 birds of 73 species -- 27 local migratory species and 46 migratory species -- were counted in the area.