Uttar Pradhesh: Census at Jodhpur Jhal records 1,335 water birds of 62 species

The census identified 29 migratory and 33 resident bird species. Among these, nine species from the IUCN's endangered list were recorded, including the Sarus crane and black-necked stork among others

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Uttar Pradhesh: Census at Jodhpur Jhal records 1,335 water birds of 62 species

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A census exercise of aquatic birds conducted at Jodhpur Jhal, a wetland on the Mathura-Agra border here, recorded 1,335 birds from 62 species, including nine endangered species, officials said.

"This census was conducted under 'Waterbird Census 2025' by Wetlands International in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad, the Forest Department and the Biodiversity Research and Development Society (BRDS)," said District Forest Officer (DFO) Rajnikant Mittal.

The effort was supervised by Wetlands International's Uttar Pradesh coordinator Neeraj Srivastava and led by BRDS bird expert K P Singh with contributions from a
team of 13 members, he added.

"The census identified 29 migratory and 33 resident bird species. Among these, nine species from the IUCN's endangered list were recorded, including the Sarus crane, black-necked stork, painted stork, oriental darter, common pochard, woolly-necked stork, black-tailed godwit, greater spotted eagle and black-headed ibis," Mittal said.

"The census recorded 370 bar-headed geese, 224 northern pintails and 220 common teals. Other species observed included gadwall, Eurasian wigeon, northern shoveler, pied avocet, little stint, temminck's stint, sandpiper, wagtail, black-winged stilt, purple swamphen and common snipe," he added.

Singh said the Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad has expanded the wetland area by creating new aquatic habitats.

"This effort has increased the diversity and abundance of wetland-dependent bird species," he added.

Elaborating on the methodology, Singh said, "The bird census was conducted by two groups, each consisting of eight expert members. Over three hours, they covered approximately 80 hectares of the wetland."

Mittal credited the increase in arrival of birds to the continuous monitoring and protection efforts of the Uttar Pradesh Braj Teerth Vikas Parishad and the Forest Department.