Second wetland bird count held in Haryana, 124 species spotted in Sultanpur park alone

Gurgaon: A team of wildlife officials carrying binoculars and with cameras hanging from their necks ventured into several wetlands on Sunday for a bird count.
The state wetland bird census covered Sultanpur National Park and Najafgarh Jheel in Gurgaon and the Bhindawas and Mandhoti wetlands in Jhajjar. It is the second time such a census has been conducted in Haryana to assess the bird population in the state’s wetlands. The first census was in February 2020. Last year, because of the pandemic, the event was cancelled.
With this count, the wildlife department also marked the World Wetlands Day that is coming up on February 2. As many as 11 teams with three members each covered Sultanpur National Park and Najafgarh Jheel. Similar teams covered the Jhajjar wetlands.
After a day-long event, the teams marked their observation and made a final list of birds. “It was concluded that Sultanpur National Park has a total of 28,026 birds and 124 species,” said Rajesh Chahal, wildlife inspector, Gurgaon. Key wintering ducks include greylag geese, northern pintail, common pochard, northern shovellers, gadwall, Eurasian coot etc.
The numbers for the other wetlands are not available yet. The 2020 census had recorded 214 bird species across the wetlands.
On the bird count, Priyanka Chaudhary, a member, Delhi Zoo, who was at Sultanpur, said, “There are three methods to count birds. The first is called ‘point count’, where a tally of all birds detected by sight and sound by a single observer located at a fixed position during a specified period is recorded. The second is ‘line transect’, where the observer must count the birds along a line; first, five metres on the left and then again on the right of the line. The third method is counting all birds on a specific tree. It is only used when birds are less in numbers.”
Some of the rare species that were spotted in Sultanpur include greater spotted eagle, red-headed falcon, imperial eagle, common kestrel, white-tailed lapwing and black-tailed godwit. The national park is also getting ready to welcome the union environment minister, Bhupender Singh Yadav, and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on February 2.
On August 10, 2021, Sultanpur National Park and Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary were included in the Ramsar list. Haryana has some 1,441 wetlands, but only two are protected under the Ramsar treaty.
Bird expert Sanjay Sharma said that Sultanpur National Park has a good variety of wintering and resident waterfowls. After many years, there has been a successful nesting of black-necked storks at the park, too, he added.
Chahal said that the survey revealed that migratory birds throng the wetland during winter, which represents a healthy sign.
In February, last year, birders organised the Big Bird Day in NCR— an exercise undertaken across the country. The event was first organised on February 22, 2004, when 236 species of birds were recorded in NCR. Then in 2020, 253 bird species were spotted, higher than 247 in 2019. In 2018, 251 bird species were spotted, and in 2017, 268. In 2015 and 2016, the bird counts were 239 and 228, respectively.
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