Birds of Santragachhi Jheel

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An edited compilation of Birds seen in the Jheel during the span of a year in general.

The book contains the common english name, scientific name, bengali name of the bird, its family, from which area it usually comes from, uses which migratory pathway, and for what purpose they use the jheel. Also the status of the bird as per THE WILD LIFE (PROTECTION) ACT, 1972, IUCN Status and CITES Status is mentioned along with a image of the bird.

We have, over the past 25 years, observed around 110 species of Bird from the Jheel area. 100 of them are showcased in this compilation.

Santragachhi Jheel is associated with the migratory birds from the early nineties. This Jheel is situated in the Howrah District of West Bengal, the area is currently under South Eastern Railway and falls under the Howrah Municipal Corporation area. The area of the Jheel where the migratory birds roost in the winter is a part of the water cascade that used to play an important role in controlling the water run off of the monsoon.

The regular Annual count of migratory birds is being carried out by Prakriti Samsad and this wetland plays an important role in educating the masses about several migratory birds. The Jheel because of several reason are under sub judice now and from 2010 onwards the wetland area of the Jheel has seen citizen's involvement in maintaining the condition of the water body for the migratory birds. Nature Mates Nature Club has carried out the work in the ground under the amiable supervision of the seniors from the field. There are several factor that determines the visit of the migratory birds in a wetland area. Santragachhi now requires a long-term monitoring and management plan in place to revive the situation.

The highest number of migratory waterfowl species recorded in Santragachhi Jheel is around 14 which includes some of the vagrant. The most abundant one is the Lesser Whistling-duck. We in this booklet have tried to manifest all the species of birds not only the water fowls which uses the area as their activity place. Hope this will give all of us an idea about the immense importance this Jheel still carries.