Chilika lake

• Migratory birds have started their annual journey to Chilika ahead of winter this year.
• Chilika lake hosts birds migrating from thousands of miles away from the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea, remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Mongolia, Central and South East Asia, Ladakh and the Himalayas.

ABOUT CHILIKA LAKE

• It is a brackish water lake and a shallow lagoon with estuarine character spread across the three districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam in Odisha.
• It is located at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an expansive area of over 1,100 km².
• Chilika is Asia’s largest and world’s second largest lagoon.
• It is the largest wintering ground for migratory waterfowl found anywhere on the Indian sub-continent.
  • It is India’s largest waterbird habitat.
• It was designated the first Indian wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1981.
• The Nalaban Island within the lake is notified as a Bird Sanctuary under WPA 1972.