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 National Parks

Keoladeo National Park is located at the confluence of the Banganga and Gambhir rivers in Bharatpur district. The area of the park is 28.73 sq. kms. It is named after Keoladeo (Shiva) temple located in the centre of the park. Earlier it was known as the 'Ghana', meaning dense forest. The national park, having the natural depression, is like a shallow saucer. In 1899, the Prince Harbhanji of Morvi state in Gujarat was appointed as an administrator of Bharatpur state. He converted this depression into a duckshoot reserve by getting bunds and dykes constructed in order to increase the water holding capacity of the area. In 1901, the reserve area was inundated for the first time and a regular water distribution system was devised. This resulted in production of a lot of aquatic vegetation which attracted very large number of resident and migratory birds. The area was notified as the ' Ghana Bird Sanctuary ' in 1956 but the hunting rights remained with the Maharaja of Bharatpur and his guests till 1965. A masonry wall was constructed all around the park from 1977 to 1981. In 1981, the sanctuary was upgraded and notified as  the    'Keoladeo National Park'. The same year, the  National Park was declared as a Ramsar site and looking to its ecological importance it was declared as a World Heritage site in 1985.

One third of the habitat ( around 11 sq. kms. area ) is the wetland. The park receives water from the Ajan Bund through a canal      (Ghana canal ).  The richness and variety of the plant life inside this small park is remarkable. The park's flora consists of around 380 species of flowering plants of which around 100 species are the wetland species. Trees like Babool, Ber, Ronj, Kalam, Prosopis juliflora, Pilu and Jal are commonly found here. The most widespread grasses in the terrestrial area are Vetiveria zizanoides ( Khus grass ), Demostachya bipinnata and Cynadon dactylon. The most common weeds that come up periodically are Eichhornia crassipes ( Water hyacinth ) and Ipomea aquatica.



The park is a paradise for the bird-lovers. Over 390 bird species have been recorded in the park, of which around 120 species are migratory and the rest are the resident. The park has one of the world's most spectacular heronry. The first rain of the monsoon makes the park come alive. Thousands of birds of different species like egrets, storks, spoonbills, ibises, snakebirds, cormorants, herons etc get busy in courting, mating and nesting. They make mixed heronry and as many as 8 or 9 species of birds may nest in one tree. The moorhens and jacanas breed in the floating vegetation on the water surface. The amount of food necessary to support the heronries is enormous. As the nesting of various bird species progresses, the number and variety of birds of prey increases. Forty two species of raptors ( excluding owls and nightjars ) have been recorded in the park. The tawny eagles, spotted eagles, short toed eagles, imperial eagles, crested serpent eagles, fishing eagles, steppe eagles, marsh harriers, hen harriers, osprey and peregrine falcons etc. dominate the scene at the wetland during peak winter. They all form the apex of the biological pyramid of the sanctuary and complete the avian food chain of the ecosystem. Of the five species of vultures observed in the park, the whiteback and the scavenger vulture are very common while the king vulture is less common.

A large number of Sarus cranes flock at drying pools of the park, during summer. Once the park is flooded, they disperse, form pairs and commence breeding. Some pairs breed inside the park. They raise heaps of vegetation, truncate the mound and make a shallow depression to hold two chalky white eggs. The pair dances, mates and shares responsibilities of raising its chicks. The population of this specie is on the decline mainly due to excessive use of chemicals and pesticides.

If one wants to see the variety and abundance of migratory birds, Keoladeo National Park is definitely the best place for that. Around 120 species of migratory birds, in thousands, visit this park every year. A large congregation of migratory waterfowl can be seen on the water surface of the park during midwinter. Most of these migratory ducks start arriving in October- November from Palaearctic region (North Europe and East Siberia.). The most prominent waterfowl coming to the park are greylag and barheaded geese. The other common migratory ducks in the park are pintails, shovellors, gadwalls, wigeons, coots, mallards, pochards (common, red crested, tufted and white eye), brahminy ducks (Surkhabs), common teals and gargany teals etc. Marble, baikal, and Falcated teals are threatened and are rarely sighted. The waterfowls follow a definite pattern in their arrival. Coots,  teals and the predator marsh harriers are first to arrive. The pintails, shovellers, gadwalls, wigeons, pochards, and greylag geese follow. Barheaded geese reach the park a bit later, when the water starts receding exposing the sprouting grasses, their favourite food. Brahminy ducks also arrive almost the same time and both the species leave the park only in summer. The pochards and the pelicans prefer the open water areas devoid of emergent grasses and weeds. They dive and feed on the submerged plants whereas the coots are generalist, feeding on submerged as well as emergent plants. The Indian moorhen prefers open water with sparse vegetation whereas the purple moorhen subsists mainly on the emergent vegetation such as Typha and Paspalum grass etc.

Keoladeo National Park is the only wintering site in India where the central and western Asian population of the rare and endangered specie -the Siberian cranes - come. They arrive in the park in the end of October or beginning of November and leave the park in the end of February or the beginning of March. They prefer the areas where the water depth is 40 cm. or less and the plant community is dominated by Cyperus rotundus, Scripus tuberosus, Eleocharis dulcis and Nymphaea spp. They feed on the rhizomes and tubers of these plants. The digging behaviour of the bird is very interesting to watch. It first pulls out the grasses with its beak and then digs below the soil surface upto 3-4 cm, to locate and extricate the rhizome or tuber. The food item is washed by splashing in water and then swallowed. While one bird digs, the other partner keeps a watch for any possible danger. The wintering population coming to India has dwindled in the last three decades from 200 in 1964-65 to only 2 in 2000 and nil during the last few years. The Demoiselle cranes and the Common cranes also winter regularly, inside the park, in hundreds.

Mammal fauna of the park is also very rich. Nilgai, chital,  and wild boar are seen in abundance while black buck and sambhar are few. The common mongoose can be seen crossing the roads and the otter is another attractive and entertaining animal to look out for on the lakes. The jungle cat, the fishing cat, Indin civet and Palm civet are rarely seen in the park. In the absence of tiger or panther, Jackals have taken up the role of predators and feed on birds and rodents. Hyenas, foxes and porcupines are rarely seen in the park.

During winter months, large pythons can be seen basking at Python Point beyond the Keoladeo temple. It is very surprising that a tigress strayed away from its natural area and stayed here for quite sometime till she died in 2005.

   The Birdman of India
   A naturalist and a perfectionist

      The fall of a sparrow inspired a young boy to become one of the world's greatest ornithologists.

SALIM ALI'S has always been synonymous with birds. Born Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali, it was this "Birdman of India" who transformed bird-watching and ornithology in the country dramatically.

Dr. Ali's love affair with birds began the day he used an airgun gifted to him by his uncle to shoot a sparrow that had a yellow streak below its neck. When his uncle, who didn't know what species of bird it was, he suggested to the10 year-old boy he visit The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), it was a turning point in his young life. Awestruck by the amazing collection of stuffed birds in the Society, the young Salim decided right away to pursue ornithology when he grew up.

The hardships the budding bird lover faced early on in his career turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Upon failing to secure any job which was concerned with natural history in 1919, a dejected Salim and his wife Tehmina left for Burma, where they took charge of the family business of timber and mining. The wild forests of Burma proved to be a living lab for Ali.

Later on, Dr. Ali would recall: "My chief interest in bird study has always been its ecology, its life history under natural conditions and not in a laboratory under a microscope. By travelling to these remote, uninhabited places, I could study the birds as they lived and behaved in their habitats."

He left for Germany where he was trained under Prof. Stresemann, an acknowledged ornithologist, whom he respected greatly.

Despite his studying at a prestigious foreign university, Dr. Ali failed to secure a job. It was then that an idea flashed in his mind. What if he were to study the avifauna in the princely states which had never before been explored? He offered to conduct regional ornithological surveys of these areas for the BNHS. He offered his services gratis provided the BNHS and the state authorities funded the camping and transport. The princely states were only too eager to have their birds recorded for posterity, and they readily agreed to this novel idea. And soon Dr. Ali was on the road to success despite the tough working conditions. The death of his wife in 1939 only spurred him to work harder in his pursuit. Post 1947, Dr. Ali took over the BNHS and managed to save the 200-year-old institution from closing down due to lack of funds, with the help of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. His determination and zest for hard work won him accolades and admirers world over. The honours that came his way included the J. Paul Getty International Award, Golden Ark of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Golden Medal of the British Ornithology Union (a rare achievement for non-British citizens), and the Padma Shree and Padma Vibhushan from the Indian Government. He also earned himself three honorary doctorates. To crown his achievements he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1985. His timely intervention saved the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and the Silent Valley National Park, besides the rediscovery of several rare species of birds.

Dr. Ali authored several books, popular among which is the Book of Indian Birds, a bible for budding ornithologists. Dr. Ali died in 1987 at the age of 91, after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer. His contributions, matchless as they are awe-inspiring, continue to captivate the minds of every new generation of bird lovers, ensuring that his legacy lives on.

  Salim Ali (1896-1987) was known as the Grand Old Man of Indian ornithology. Though slight and apparently frail of build he undertook expeditions to Afghanistan and Tibet, and even till the very end was not content to sit at home. His "Book of Indian Birds" made bird-watching popular among the general public. Throughout his career he was closely associated with the Bombay Natural History Society.

Salim Ali was as active in the field of conservation as he was in Ornithology. He was probably the only person who had travelled to all the obscure parts of the Indian Subcontinent at one time or another of his life and knew the country, its forests and its birdlife intimately. His knowledge and experience were respected and his timely intervention saved the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, now the Keoladeo National Park, and the Silent Valley National Park. He was a non-conformist, a man who for many years walked a lonely path divergent from the mainstream of science in India. It is a tribute to his determination and genius that at the end of his life, he had a sizeable population of the conformist mainstream following him or at least appreciating and commending his more or less single-handed efforts to present the study of the Birds of his land, the ethereal spirits of the air, to his countrymen and to the world. 

Some books by Salim Ali

 

1. Bird study in India : its history and its importance
   New Delhi : Indian Council for Cultural Relations, c1979. Azad memorial lectures ; 1979
2. Birds of Kerala
   With 101 species illustrated in colour and 32 in black-and-white by D. V. Cowen.
3. The birds of Kutch
   With thirty-two photographs and twenty coloured plates by D. V. Cowen.
4. The birds of Sikkim
   With coloured plates by David Reid-Henry, Robert Scholz and Paul Barruel and line drawings by Paul Barruel.
5. The birds of Travancore & Cochin
   With 101 species illustrated in colour and 32 in black-and-white by D.V. Cowen.
6.  

   1. The book of Indian birds
       

   2. The fall of a sparrow
       

   3. Field guide to the birds of the eastern Himalayas
       

   4. Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka
      with S. Dillon Ripley.

   5. Indian hill birds
      illustrated by G.M. Henry.

   6. A pictorial guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent
      with S. Dillon Ripley. Illustrations by John Henry Dick.

    

Pythons attract visitors Keoladeo National Park - python , which are generally feared and disliked, are the sole attraction at Keoladeo national park, which does not have birds these days.
with the lowest temperature during the season so for being 6.2 degree Celsius, conditions have become quite uncomfortable for pythons. To get some warmth from sunlight, many of them come out of their holes everyday during daytime. According to wildlife expert Sohan Lal there are about 200 pythons of India Rock species at present at 8-10pythons in the park . They are brown and spotted and eat only mud during the winter season . they shift to the place near water during February in search of food. It is known for its habit of encroachment for it doesn't make its own home but occupies burrows made by porcupines. The longest rows made by porcupines.