subject: Surprising Presence Of Birds In Gir! [print this page] Imagine a dark dense forest, a loud roar of lion and suddenly sweet chirping of birds reach your ears. This is what Gir forest is like. There are about 300 species of birds. Bird watchers love to visit this place. Most of the species of birds are resident of this place; seasonally few migrate and come here. There are about twenty species of ground birds like quails, peafowl etc. During winter one can find large number of birds in Kamaleshwar dam and near other water bodies. The flamingos and pelicans are found near the lakes.
The resident species of birds in Gir are- coots, spoot bills, cormorants, herons, ibis, storks etc. The commonest water bird of Gir is whistling teal. Four varieties of crane, five varieties of vultures, and three species of kingfisher are commonly seen in this forest. Pleasant and sweet singing parakeets are seen flying during sunrise and sunset. After the sunset one can see many species of nocturnal birds. The different call of the brain fever bird-cuckoo can be heard from long distance. Pigeons and singing birds are quite common here. Woodpeckers and warblers are found near woodlands.
Gir Forest Bird watchers paradise
Bird watching is best done at sunrise and during sunset, when all the birds fly back to their home trees. Watching Flock of different birds flying together is amazing and beautiful experience. Government is developing programs like bird walk to educate people and attract large number to tourists. The Gir National Park and Bird Sanctuary welcomes large number of tourists from all over the world. Most people come here to watch the exotic bird species which cannot be seen in other parts of the world. The 300 colorful and diverse species of birds in Gir forest have earned it the title of bird watchers paradise.
Threats to avian fauna of Gir
Gujarat is emerging as important commercial centre. The increase in activities like mining has adversely affected the avian fauna of the region. This is responsible for migration of birds to distant places. Indian hornbill, a beautiful bird inhabitant of Gir was not found during the Census of 2001. Still many species of Gir birds are in the list of threatened species. Government is taking steps to conserve the natural habitat of this place; this will help in preserving many endemic species of birds. If they are not preserved they will become extinct in the near future.
