Nagi Dam Bird Sanctuary

Nagi Dam Bird Sanctuary covers 2.1 sq km around a reservoir near Jhajha in Jamui district, south Bihar, close to the Jharkhand border. The dam, finished in 1958 to irrigate farmland, gathers water from the Nagi River and smaller streams. The sanctuary was declared in 1984, and BirdLife International named it an Important Bird Area in 2004. It is 12 km from Jhajha railway station and 31 km from Jamui.

Migrants start coming in October, and from November to February the reservoir fills with birds, with more than 20,000 waterbirds counted in winter. Around 1,600 bar-headed geese have been recorded, roughly 3 per cent of the world population. Winter species include ruddy shelduck, red-crested pochard, northern pintail, black-necked stork, osprey and steppe eagle, and the rocky land around the water draws dry-country birds such as the Indian courser and chestnut-bellied sandgrouse. Over 133 bird species are recorded in all, along with many dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies.