Waterbird Census at Kaziranga National Park records 84,830 birds

Nagaon: The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve recorded the presence of 84,839 birds in the recent Waterbird Census conducted in the national park. The presence of 84839 birds in the national park is a 27 per cent increase since the last count (66776 in 2021-22).

The 5th Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve Waterbird Census cum festival was conducted on January 9-10.

Sonali Ghosh, Director of the national park said that Assam Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary inaugurated the Bird Census cum festival on January 9 at Agoratoli, Kaziranga and on January 10 simultaneous bird census was conducted across 115 water bodies spread across the 3 divisions of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

"The 5th Waterbird Census adopted an improvised methodology and covered 115 waterbodies spread across the length and breadth of Kaziranga National Park.

The census was conducted on January 10 as a single-day exercise involving a large number of bird experts as enumerators, and forest frontline staff.

They were supported by volunteers from more than 30 educational institutions, NGOs and other organisations, thereby making it one of the largest citizen science movements of the country in recent years," Ghosh said.

"It is worth mentioning that no disruption in regular tourism activities occurred during the conduct of the census to sensitize the importance of science-based conservation in protected area management. The census design also included important beels adjoining the Tiger Reserve. The Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, comprising mostly of the Kaziranga National Park area, recorded 37606 birds and the highest abundance of a single species (Bar-headed Goose) was recorded at Sohola Beel (13084 individuals)," she added.

Ghosh further asserted, "Rowmari beel under Nagaon Wildlife Division recorded the highest number of birds across all wetlands (19301 individuals). Under this division, (Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries and Joysagar Doloni of Kaliabor) the highest abundance of birds recorded was of Northern Pintails (8960 individuals). Under Bishwanath Wildlife Division, the highest abundance of birds (2727 individuals) was reported under Dipora Area under Eastern Range Gamiri followed by 2520 individuals at Kutainee beel under Western Nagshankar Range."

Sonali Ghosh also said that, during the 5th Waterbird Census, it was decided to carry out a census in major wetlands adjoining the Tiger Reserve along with the wetlands falling inside the Reserve. "The Kaziranga-Hukuma beel in Biswanath recorded 3049 birds while the Joysagar Doloni in Kaliabor recorded 1765 birds highlighting their conservation and protection.

Other notable wetlands adjoining the Tiger Reserve that recorded significant bird presence were the Gonak beel (973 individuals), Sahala beel (424 individuals) and Sisubari beel (348 individuals)," Ghosh said.

"There are over 200 wetlands across the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve and a significant area of the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries are protected as part of the 6th Addition of Kaziranga National Park and 1st addition of Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuary. The results of the 5th Waterbird Census reinstates the importance of Kaziranga wetlands as a globally important habitat for local and migratory waterbirds," she added.

The Eastern Assam Wildlife Division conducted the first census of water-birds in Kaziranga National Park in the year 2018 and a total of 10412 waterfowls belonging to 80 different species were recorded during this census.

The 2nd Water-bird Census Exercise was conducted in the year 2020 and the census covered important wetlands across the entire Tiger Reserve area including the Biswanath and Nagaon Wildlife Divisions (under Kaziranga Tiger Reserve) for the first time.

A total of 34284 birds belonging to 98 species were recorded during this exercise. The 3rd Water-bird census of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve was conducted on February 6 and 7, 2021 across 52 wetlands and a total of 93491 water-birds belonging to 112 species across 22 families, were recorded.

The 4th Water-bird census was carried out in December 2022 for 5 days across the important wetlands and rivers of the Tiger Reserve.

A total of 66776 water birds were recorded during this exercise. The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve is home to the big five mammals and is a popular destination for birders owing to a very high diversity of over 500 bird species.

Kaziranga National Park extends over 1302 sq. km with a significant area of over 50 per cent of the landmass under grasslands interspersed with waterbodies, locally known as beels.

These, along with the main channel of the River Brahmaputra, Dhansiri, Difaloo and Laokhowa Suti rivers provide a unique habitat for both resident and migratory birds.

Recognizing its unique ecological significance, it has been listed as an Important Bird Area (IBA IN390) by the Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International which maintains a global registry of IBA in the world.