Exotic black swan family expands at bird park

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, December 10

The Department of Forest and Wildlife, UT, carried out a successful breeding of an exotic pair of black swans, natives of Australia, at the Chandigarh Bird Park.

Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forests, said black swan was an expensive and rare bird. It was one of the most successful breeding carried out at the bird park, he said, adding that the mother bird laid six eggs, out of which three chicks were born while the other eggs were discarded.

“Due to healthy environment created at the park, exotic birds are continuously breeding. So far, 42 chicks of different species, including three of black swan, have born,” he said. Dalai added that efforts were being made for successful breeding of different species of birds at the park.

On August 18, 11 newly born budgerigars were released in the main enclosure and four newborn wood ducks were released in the aquatic aviary of the park on August 12. Dalai said eggs laid by wood ducks were shifted to the incubator to prevent any harm to them. Adequate temperature was maintained for hatching these eggs.

The bird park has been developed at Nagar Van behind Sukhna Lake for creating awareness among the public about bird conservation. The enclosures have been planned in such a way that the birds, apart from having a free flight and nesting in the natural habitat, will stay at the aviary and visitors will be able to walk past them.

Lush green spaces at the park are covered by terrestrial plants, ferns, shrubs, bushes, aquatic plants, trees and creepers to provide every bird with an environment perfectly suited to its unique needs. Herbs, shrubs and trees have been planted to suit the birds’ natural habitat.

Spread over 6.5 acres, the park has been developed by providing ample space to each and every bird. It has 58-ft flying height and nearly 200×150 ft of ground area, each for terrestrial birds and aquatic birds. The facility has two small aviaries and two walk-through aviaries.

Presently, the park has nearly 550 exotic birds of 48 species. The aviary has separate enclosures for aquatic and terrestrial birds. The height of the enclosures has been designed keeping in mind the flight of the birds.