Context: Water birds make a beeline to Punjab’s Harike wetland
Winter migratory water birds using the central Asian flyway have started making a beeline to Punjab’s Harike wetland, offering a delight for bird lovers.
Central Asian flyway
Every winter, the birds make their way to India through the central Asian flyway, which covers a large continental area of Europe-Asia between the Arctic and Indian Oceans.
Harike wetland
The Harike wetland, one of the largest in northern India, is situated in Tarn Taran district of the Punjab state in India.
It stands on the confluence of the the Beas and the Sutlej.
It is home to birds visiting from as far as the Arctic and Siberia.
It is one of the Ramasar sites in India, for conservation, development and preservation of the ecosystem.
It is a man-made, riverine, lacustrine wetland.
The wetland was declared a bird sanctuary in 1982 and named as Harike Pattan Bird Sanctuary.
