Rare bird makes a comeback to Kanjli

Wed,01 Mar 2017

JALANDHAR: Though there has been some decrease in the total population of resident and migratory bird species at Kanjli wetland in Kapurthala district than last year, a bird featuring in the list of critically endangered species has been spotted in the wetland after many years, Asian Waterbird Census (AWC), the largest bird count survey in Asia and Australasia, has revealed.The `Common Pochard', which features in the red list of threatened species prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), was spotted after many years at the wetland, said ecologist T K Roy , AWC's Delhi coordinator who carried out the census with support from Kapurthala wildlife division. "A total of 15 water bird species were found at this small Ramsar site in Punjab.Of the total 263 birds belonging to 15 species, 233 birds were spotted this time," he added. Of 15 species, 10 species are of resident water birds and five species are of long-distance winter migratory water birds from Central Asian and North Asian regions.

"As climate change is impacting migration  trend of birds,  fewer birds of different species are arriving to the wetland. 

Continued