Rare European sea duck spotted in state after 93 yrs

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Jhajjar, March 12

This winter season has been unusual for Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary here in the sense that a rare species of European sea duck, Smew, was spotted by bird watchers after more than 93 years.

As per birder watchers, this is a significant sighting as Smew is a very rare winter visitor to India. Last time, the bird was seen in the National Capital Region (NCR) in 1922.

Bird watcher Jagat Prakash Verma spotted Smew on Sunday while on a visit to the sanctuary with a team of birdwatchers from Delhi. He claimed Smew was seen in Haryana after 93 years.

“I was thrilled on spotting this rare species of duck at Bhindawas Birds Sanctuary for the first time. On noticing my presence, Smew began to move away and took off. But I managed to take four to five shots by then,” said Verma who runs an NGO, Jeev Sanrakshan Samiti.

He said 178 species of birds had so far been spotted in the sanctuary and, among them, some varieties were very rare. “Generally, the migratory birds reach the sanctuary in October and start returning in March. This time, migratory birds may stay here for long in view of coldness in the air.”

“I have sent the pictures and related information to Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for research,” Verma said.

The BNHS is a wildlife research organization, promoting the cause of nature conservation since 1883.

He has sought the Centre as well as the state government to frame a policy to encourage bird watchers who spend money and time to discover rare species of birds without any monetary help from the authorities.