About Nalabana Wildlife Sanctuary:
- Nalabana Wildlife Sanctuary, or the Nalbana Bird Sanctuary, is the core area of the Ramsar-designated wetlands of Chilika Lake, located in the state of Odisha.
- The Island of Nalabana was declared a bird sanctuary in the year 1987 after observing the sheer number of diverse bird species found there.
- It supports a congregation of about 60% of the total migratory birds visiting Chilika Lagoon each year.
- Rare or threatened species such as the Asian dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus), the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea), and Pallas’ fish eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus) are often recorded as part of this crowd.
- During monsoons, the entire sanctuary is submerged under water with only a few treetops and watchtower above water level.
Key Facts about Chilika Lake:
- It is a brackish water lake and a shallow lagoon with estuarine character located in the state of Odisha.
- It is Asia’s largest brackish water lake.
- It is the second-largest brackish water lagoon in the world, after the New Caledonian barrier reef in New Caledonia.
- It is connected to the Bay of Bengal.
- The Daya and Bhargavi rivers feed the lake except during the dry months from December to June, when saline ocean water enters through a small passage.
- In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian wetland of international importance under the Ramsar
- Chilika supports some of the largest congregation of migratory birds in the country, particularly during the winter.
- Flocks of migratory waterfowl arrive from as far as the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, the Aral Sea, remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Mongolia, Central and Southeast Asia, Ladakh, and the Himalayas.
