Every winter, thousands of birds leave the colder regions of Eurasia and Central Asia, covering vast distances in search of food, water, and resting places. Part of these journeys concludes for several months in two water bodies located in a corner of the state of Bihar.
In the areas of Nagi and Nakti, which are part of the Jamui district, one can find black-headed geese, northern pintails, red-breasted pochards, grey geese, and rusty ducks. Other winter visitors arrive from regions stretching to Russia, northern China, and the Arctic Circle.
The choice of these birds is particularly interesting because the Nagi and Nakti water bodies were not originally intended for wildlife; they were built for human needs.
These two artificial reservoirs were created for irrigating agricultural lands in the Jajha forest zone. However, over time, the areas intended to support farming have become stopping points for migratory birds that could feed and spend the winter there.
Year after year, the birds continued to return. In June 2024, Nagi and Nakti were recognized as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, becoming the 81st and 82nd Ramsar Convention sites in India at that time.
For tourists, the significance of these places becomes clear when winter arrives and the water fills with birds. The question arises: why do birds that travel thousands of kilometers stop here?
There is no dramatic wilderness around Nagi and Nakti. Instead, there is a mosaic familiar to many Indians: a combination of water, agricultural fields, dry deciduous forests, and rocky hills. This combination has proven extremely beneficial for the birds.
The reservoirs provide the water and habitat necessary for migratory species in the cold months, while the surrounding landscape supports a broader ecosystem. As the number of birds gathering here increases each winter, Nagi and Nakti were eventually protected as bird sanctuaries.
A review of Bihar's wetlands includes them in the list of important habitats for the state's migratory ducks, such as the red-breasted pochard, grey goose, northern shoveler, and rusty duck. However, perhaps the clearest way to understand what happens here every winter is simply by counting.
What does 7844 birds in one wetland look like?
During the 2023 survey of Asian waterfowl, 7844 birds were recorded in Nakti, which was the highest figure among the surveyed wetlands in Bihar that year. Nagi recorded another 6938 individuals. Considering the entire Jamui district, the scale is even greater: researchers counted 18480 birds belonging to 87 species, making Jamui the area with the highest number of birds among Bihar's districts during the survey.
A total of 69935 birds were registered across the state, of which 29795 belonged to 73 species of long-distance migrants. These figures are impressive. But imagine what they actually mean on the ground. Thousands of individual birds cross landscapes that most of us will never see in our lives. Then, for a few weeks or months, they share the same patch of water in Bihar before finally beginning their return journey.
This also means that what is happening in these wetlands matters far beyond Jamui. The 2023 survey considered threats such as pollution, overfishing, poaching, and agricultural expansion. A wetland that provides birds with enough food and a safe habitat for one winter can become less suitable if its water or surroundings change.
Thus, for migratory birds, places like Nagi and Nakti are not just picturesque stops on a map. They are part of a much longer journey.
Some of these winter visitors crossed international borders to reach Bihar
Spending enough time around Nagi and Nakti in winter, the list of visitors begins to resemble a map. The Bihar Forest Department registers species such as the Eurasian sparrowhawk, common pochard, rusty duck, Eurasian wigeon, northern pintail, black-headed goose, red-breasted pochard, northern shoveler, Ruddy Shelduck, and coot.
Earlier documents from the Ministry of Tourism note birds arriving from regions such as the Arctic Circle, Russia, Eurasia, Central Asia, and northern China. The black-headed goose is one of the most prominent visitors associated with these wetlands. Nagi-Nakti historically recorded significant concentrations of this species, and this area was previously designated as an Important Bird Area.
To appreciate what is happening here, you don't need to know all the species by name. The bird on the water before you may have crossed national borders and flown thousands of kilometers before reaching this little-known part of Bihar. In this light, Nagi and Nakti cease to seem like two isolated reservoirs. For several months each year, they become one point on a migratory route stretching across continents.
So why is the protection of the two reservoirs in Bihar important?
The Ramsar Convention recognition in 2024 gave international status to what the birds had been telling us for years: these reservoirs acquired ecological significance far beyond their original purpose. According to the Ramsar designation, Nakti covers about 333 hectares, and Nagi covers about 206 hectares. Together, they are situated within a wider landscape that includes forests, hills, agricultural fields, and water bodies.
The ecosystem extends beyond the birds that make it impressive in winter. Ramsar records also mention species such as the endangered Indian elephant and the vulnerable Walago catfish in the broader wetland landscape.
Perhaps this is what makes the story of Nagi-Nakti worth paying attention to, even if you are not a bird enthusiast. We often portray important wildlife habitats as untouched places: forests, mountains, or natural lakes far from daily life. Nagi and Nakti complicate this picture. These reservoirs were created to serve farms, and today they also provide refuge for wildlife arriving from thousands of kilometers away.
Their history serves as a reminder that places created and used by humans can also be valuable to other species, and that their subsequent protection becomes a shared responsibility.
If you want to see this with your own eyes, the best time to visit is from November to February, when a large number of migratory waterfowl arrive from their northern breeding grounds. Residents can be seen year-round, but the wetlands undergo the most significant changes in winter.
And to have a wonderful experience, you don't need to be an ornithology expert with a checklist and expensive binoculars. Sometimes it is enough to know where the bird came from. A goose resting on the water may have crossed countries to get here. A duck feeding nearby will eventually fly away again. For a short period of its journey, the reservoir in Bihar gives it a place to rest. Then summer approaches, visitors leave, and Nagi and Nakti once again become two reservoirs in Jamui until winter brings them back.