Blue Bird Lake, Hisar is a resident and endangered migratory bird wetland

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

, lake and recreation area in the town of Hisar, in the

Hisar district Hisar district is one of the 22 districts of Haryana, India. Hisar city serves as the district headquarters. Hisar district has four sub-divisions that is, Hisar, Barwala, Hansi and Narnaud, each headed by an SDM. The district is also part of ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

State,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.Blue Bird lake

Haryana Tourism Haryana Tourism Corporation (HTC) is an agency of the Government of Haryana, India established in 1974. The organisation operates 44 tourist facilities spread across the state of Haryana. These facilities offer visitors lodging, dining, and r ...

Location

Blue Bird Lake is close to Hisar Airport on NH-9 in Hisar,

. It is close to Deer Park, Hisar and Shatavar Vatika Herbal Park, Hisar, both of which are run by the Forests Department, Haryana of

Government of Haryana Government of Haryana, also known as the State Government of Haryana, or locally as the Haryana Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Haryana and its 22 districts. It consists of an executive, ceremonially led ...

Migratory birds

Among approximately 1,800 migratory bird species out of total 10,000 species of birds in the world, nearly 370 species migrate to India due to seasonal changes, including 175 long-distance migration species that use the Central Asian Flyway route,"Pallid harrier spotted in Asola Bhatti Sanctuary as migratory birds arrive in Delhi."

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

, 27 Nov 2017. and among those some of these migratory birds species have been sighted nesting here during the winter,"Vets screen geese, shut Hisar’s Bluebird Lake."
The Tribune. many of which are endangered species. The lake is also leased out for the

commercial fisheries Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often p ...

by Fisheries Department of

."Blue Bird did not give water for lake, 29 lakhs gave fishery contract."

Dainik Bhaskar ''Dainik Bhaskar '' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper in India which is owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to the World Association of Newspapers, it ranked fourth in the world by circulation in 2016 and per the Indian Audit ...

, 1 Apr 2017.

Attractions and facilities

The lake and surrounding

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

and parks are spread across 52 acres. The lake itself is 20 acres and has small islands where migratory birds and other

flora and fauna An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been pro ...

live and nest. There are boats available for hire, along with safety gear such as life saving flotation jackets and devices. The lake has floating pontoon platforms for visitors and boaters, and

ghat Ghat (), a term used in the Indian subcontinent, to refer to the series of steps leading down to a body of water or wharf, such as a bathing or cremation place along the banks of a river or pond, the Ghats in Varanasi, Dhobi Ghat or the Aap ...

s for sitting and relaxing.

Recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

is permitted with payment of a licensing fee. Landscaped parks, sight-seeing walking trails and jogging tracks, over-water bridges, bush land, children's swings and play area, visitor's car park and toilets, and other amenities are available. There is no entry fee to use these areas. The Blue bird lake also has government-run "Blue Bird Tourist Resort" with rooms, conference halls, restaurant and bar."Blue bird laje."

.200
"Encyclopaedia of Cities and Towns in India."
Volume 1, p318.

Conservation issues

Air, sound and water pollution, lack of water supply and conservation, lack of protected area status and scientific wildlife management plan for wildlife conservation, lack of area development with scientific landscaping and tree planting conducive to safe birds nesting and breeding, stray dogs and cats posing risk to nesting endangered birds, poor hygiene resulting in ongoing risk of avian flu outbreak, etc. remain major issues. Since there is no agreement between Haryana Tourism that manages the wetland and HLRDC in control of canal that irrigates their farm in the vicinity of wetland, HLRDC stopped the supply of their share of water flowing to Blue bird lake, causing gradual reduction of water levels in the wetland which resulted in death of fishes in 2016. Over 800 domesticated ducks resident at blue bird lake were culled by the authorities in November 2016 when 9 dead ducks were found that were confirmed to have died due to H5N8

avian influenza Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A viru ...

virus."9 ducks die due to avian flu in Hisar's bird complex as Haryana govt fears breakout of epidemic."

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

, 6 Nov 2016."750 birds culled in Hisar to check avian flu spread."

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

, 4 Nov 2016."Duck deaths at Hisar: Tests confirm first avian flu case."

, 4 Nov 2016.

Nearby attraction

* Shatavar Vatika Herbal Park, Hisar is next to the Deer Park on Dhansu Road * Kanwari Indus Valley Mound at

Kanwari Kanwari, also spelled Kunwari, or Kwari, is a village of 7,000 population, in Hansi-I Tehsil, Hisar-1 Rural Development Block, Hansi (Vidhan Sabha constituency) and Hisar (Lok Sabha constituency) of Hisar District of Hisar Division in the ...

Tosham rock inscription The Tosham rock inscription, dating from the 4th or 5th century, on Tosham hill in Tosham town of Haryana state in India, is an epigraph documenting the establishment of a monastery and the building of water tanks for followers of the Satva ...

Tosham Tosham is a town and a Gram Panchayat on the foot of Tosham Hill range in Bhiwani district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Haryana. It has been awarded the title of "Adarsh Village". It is situated in the foothill of Tosha ...

Asigarh Fort Asigarh Fort, also called Hansi Fort, is located on the eastern bank of ''Amti lake'' in Hansi city of Haryana, India, about 135 km from Delhi on National Highway 9 (India), NH9. Spread over 30 acres, in its prime days this fort used to be ...

Hansi Hansi, is a city and municipal council in Hisar district in the Indian state of Haryana. It appears that at one time Hansi was larger, more prosperous and more important than Hisar. The town has several important buildings of archeological impor ...

* Firoz Shah Palace Complex * Pranpir Badshah tomb at Hisar * Mahabir Stadium * Deer Park, Hisar *

References