Migratory birds start hatching

Kathmandu: The migratory birds that come here to escape the heat and for breeding have started hatching.

Most of these birds that start arriving here from around mid-February start hatching around mid-April and May. Basu Bidari, President of the Bagmati Province Bird Education Society, said that although there are no actual figures, some 60 to 80 species of migratory birds are said to arrive in Chitwan National Park and surrounding areas this season.

He said that the birds take their young ones with them. Once the chicks become capable of flying, those birds usually return to their destination in September and October. More than 11,000 species of birds are found in the world. Among them, approximately 40 per cent are migratory species.

According to Bidari, migratory birds come in this area twice a year. They come in winter and summer. The birds that come to escape the cold do not hatch their eggs here. Many birds migrate to Nepal from various places around the world. During the winter season, the birds travel from Russia’s Siberia and Mongolia to Nepal and then to India.

The birds that migrate to here in the summer come from India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asian countries, and Africa. These birds enjoy hanging around riverbanks, forests and grasslands. Bidari shared that during summer, birds like cuckoo, Swargachari, Sunchari, and heron are found in large numbers.

The president of Bird Education Society, Chitwan, Bijay Giri, said that beautiful species of birds come during this season, so tourists visiting here will get to observe the birds.

He mentioned that the visitors can observe chicks recently hatched in the nests in trees and bushes, adding the migratory birds that come here from February will have returned by October after raising their hatchlings. 900 species of birds are found in Nepal and 652 are found in and around Chitwan National Park alone.

RSS