Migratory birds attract nature enthusiasts to Uttarakhand

Nature enthusiasts and tourists gathered at a barrage on river Kosi in Uttarakhand on Sunday to observe migratory birds that flock to the warmer climes to ward off the extreme cold of their Arctic home grounds.

Ramnagar is the gateway to Jim Corbett National Park, the oldest national park and a famous tourist destination in northern India.

With the onset of winter, the Siberian birds spread their wings to begin a journey spanning thousands of kilometres.

These birds from Siberia and Central Asia use wetlands as their transitory camps, which play a vital role in sustaining a large population of the breeding birds.

Forest conservator, Western Circle, Nainital, Surender Mehra said they are also organising awareness camps for the tourists coming to take a look at various kinds of birds.

"The birds that migrate include 15-20 different species. The two main species are bar headed geese and Brahminy duck (ruddy shelduck). Other than that pochard and teals too migrate and cone here. Local species of birds like cormorant also come here," said Mehra.

Hundreds of thousands of exotic birds such as mallards, greyleg geese, gadwalls, teals, shovelers, pochards and coots make their temporary nests in Ramnagar. The birds attract a lot of tourists to the sanctuaries as well.

"One of the common birds which migrate here is ruddy shelduck. They migrate from high altitude areas like Kazakhstan and Siberia because the environment here is conducive for them to breed. They fly back with their young ones before the summer season," said a bird watcher in Ramnagar town, Prashant Kumar.

The migratory birds begin their annual flight from Siberia, travel through Afghanistan and Central Asia and arrive in India for the entire season.

Various species of birds like northern shoveler, ruddy shelduck, northern pintail, red-crested pochard, common merganser, black stork, great egret, purple heron, Indian cormorant and others migrate to the barrage in the Indian wetlands.