page_title: Maharana Pratap Sagar
section_title: Bird sanctuary
hierarchical_section_title: Maharana Pratap Sagar / Flora and fauna / Bird sanctuary
caption_attribution_description: English: common bar headed geese in pong dam
context_page_description: Maharana Pratap Sagar, in India, also known as Pong Reservoir or Pong Dam Lake was created in 1975, by building the highest earthfill dam in India on the Beas River in the wetland zone of the Siwalik Hills of the Kangra district of the state of Himachal Pradesh.
  Named in the honour of Maharana Pratap, the reservoir or the lake is a well-known wildlife sanctuary and one of the 27 international wetland sites declared in India by the Ramsar Convention.
  The reservoir covers an area of 24,529 hectares, and the wetlands portion is 15,662 hectares.
  The Pong Reservoir and Gobindsagar Reservoir are the two most important fishing reservoirs in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh. These reservoirs are the leading sources of fish within the Himalayan states.
context_section_description: The reservoir was declared as a bird sanctuary in 1983. A 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) belt from the periphery of the lake has been declared as buffer zone for the management of the bird sanctuary. The national, as well as international, significance of the sanctuary is enhanced because of its waterfowl diversity, which was evidenced by the increase of water fowl species from 39 prior to the reservoir to 54 species at post-reservoir stage. The number of birds reported, particularly during the winter period of November to March, has steadily increased over the years. The recent records indicate a water fowl count of 130,000 in 2004 and 142,000 during 2005 migratory birds – a major increase from the average annual count of 18,887 for the period 1988–1995.
  The main bird species reported are the barheaded geese, Anser indicus, northern lapwing, ruddy shelduck, northern pintail, common teal, Indian spot-billed duck, Eurasian coot, red-necked grebe, black-headed gulls, plovers, black stork, terns, water-fowl and egrets.
  The avian habitats in the reservoir area are categorized under the following heads:
  The receding shore–line form mudflats and mud spits from October onwards which provide organic matter, worms, insects and molluscs for wintering birds and plovers. Wagtails, sand larks and pipits also use the mudflats.
  The shallow water on the margins of the reservoir and the open deep water are used by dabbling ducks (Anatinae) and some long-legged waders
  In the sandy banks near the reservoir periphery with dry sand banks strewn with small boulders, with little or no vegetation, stone curlew and pratincoles feed here.
  Below the outfall of the dam, swamp habitats and water side vegetation are used by birds such as ducks, coot, warblers, babblers, munias, kingfishers and predators.
  In the reservoir draw down areas, which are also cultivated by local people during winter, bar-headed geese and ruddy shelduck feed.
  Around five thousand tourists visit the bird sanctuary during the winter season, and most of them come to watch migratory birds for the first time. Efforts are being made to encourage eco-tourism to attract more tourists to the reservoir.
caption: Common bar-headed geese in pong dam
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