How the villagers of Menar built a sanctuary for birds

MENAR

About 45km from Udaipur, on the Chittorgarh National Highway (NH-76), a board reads: “Menar: Bird Village of Rajasthan.” The village is a kilometre off the highway. On either sides of the narrow road, posters and paintings of birds adorn the walls. A little ahead, ponds come into view, and the villagers greet visitors with a warm “Welcome to Menar.”

Dharmendra Menaria, 29, a senior research assistant, lives on the edge of Brahma Talab. From his rooftop, he can see the pond that brims with avian life. Calling himself a pakshi mitra (friend of birds), he says it all began in 2017 when an Irish birdwatcher visited Menar. Menaria spent an entire day with him—walking, spotting and exploring the village. Together they recorded more than 100 species, from tiny songbirds to the stately Sarus Crane.

The birdwatcher gifted Menaria a field guide on birds of the Indian subcontinent and told him to learn to identify the species of his village. “I have made a list of over 170 species,” says Menaria. His goal now is to make out the bird by its call. A pair of Great Crested Grebe nest in front of his home and he proudly talks of documenting them—from nesting to raising chicks—over a month and a half.

Once considered a migratory bird, it has made Menar’s ponds its home and breeds here in good numbers. The birds can be seen building floating nests among the reeds or feeding chicks. “They are great divers, can stay underwater for long durations and travel great distances,” say Vishal Mahajan and Anup Ranade, who regularly visit from Udaipur to photograph the species. What was once a shy waterbird can now be observed from remarkably close distance.

On the edge of Brahma Talab stands a 65-foot statue of Mahadev, overlooking the village and the pond, alongside the temple of goddess Amba Devi. Children proudly point out that Dhadak, starring Janhvi Kapoor, was shot here. On the temple walls, Black-winged Stilts stand in tandem, one leg in the air, and Red-wattled Lapwings bask in the winter sun. Behind the temple, a Common Coot—a dark grey waterbird with a white bill and forehead shield—is busy fortifying her nest with twigs.

On the far side of the village from the Brahma Talab lies the Dhand Talab, marked by a new board and gate, noting its declaration as a Ramsar Site (a wetland recognised as internationally important under the Ramsar Convention) last year. Surrounded by trees—including a grand banyan—the 80-hectare pond has a footpath around it. In the middle, one of several small islands serves as the favourite roosting spot for Common Cranes. As the sun begins to set, hundreds of them circle the pond noisily, before landing in disciplined batches, first four, then another four.

About a kilometre away is the third pond, Dudela or Kheroda Talab, covering 20 hectares. Together, the three ponds form the Menar Wetland Complex. Between Dhand and Dudela, eight Sarus Cranes—the tallest flying birds in the world, and non-migratory—forage calmly.

River Terns rest on wooden blocks in neat rows; as one takes off, another claims its spot. These fast birds dive like fighter jets to pick insects off the water surface. They breed in Menar during summer, when more islands emerge in the ponds.

A few Ruddy Shelducks search for food, their golden-orange plumage earning them the local name “Sawarn Khab” (golden bird). These migratory ducks breed in central Asia and Europe and the Indian subcontinent. The duck-contingent includes Common Pochards (males with rich rusty-red head, black chest and pale grey body), Gadwalls and the graceful Pintail with its needle-like tail feathers. Occasionally, a pair of Marsh Harriers fly low, sending the ducks into panic mode.

The trees along the pond paths are equally lively: a pair of Spotted Owlets watch visitors closely, while a Common Hawk-Cuckoo—called “Brainfever Bird” for its repetitive, loud, frantic-sounding call—searches for food from a low branch.

Village elders Vijay Lal Bhopa, 70, and Onkar Lal Menaria, 79, recount Menar’s long history of wildlife protection. They say their forefathers had stopped French traveller Louis Rousselet, author of L’Inde des Maharajas, from hunting there.

Onkar Lal Menaria claims that several big companies offered them crores of rupees to rent the ponds for commercial fishing. “We politely refused,” he says. “These ponds belong to the birds.” In 2018, when Dhand Talab dried up, the villagers deployed water tankers, and, aided by the forest department, shifted fish from the pond to Brahma Talab.

MLA Udai Lal Dangi says that with Menar’s new Ramsar status, the government plans to promote it as a major tourist destination, creating jobs for youth as bird guides. He notes that many villagers already work as chefs across India and abroad, and tourism will help bring visitors to experience their cuisine.

Darshan Menaria, 43, a political science lecturer and another dedicated pakshi mitra, heads the Menar Nature Club, which educates children, conducts weekly cleanliness drives and guided bird walks and monitors the ponds. The driving force behind the village’s new generation of conservation-minded youth, he even purchased a spotting scope with his savings to introduce children to detailed birdwatching, and the club now plans to buy another for visitors. “Menar is Rajasthan’s bird village, an example of how a community can transform a pond into a sanctuary for migratory and resident birds,” he says. He emphasises the need for government support: boundary walls, birdwatching areas and watchtowers.

Sarpanch Pramod Dholi, 26, recalls the proud moment when he received the silver award for best tourism village at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi in 2023. It may not be the last honour for Rajasthan’s bird village.