Loktak waterbird population dips from last year
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 15 2026: The Loktak Lake has recorded a lesser number of bird population than previous year at 16,365, according to a 2026 census report.

An official website of the Loktak Development Authority (LDA) was also launched and the Waterbird Census Report-Loktak Ramsar 2026 was released at the Chief Minister's Secretariat.

Last year (2025), the recorded population of birds at the lake was 23,390 .

Even though the population has dipped by 7,025, the census 2026 report recorded a hike in the number of the species of birds from 53 last year to 56 .

The census 2026 report was published by Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh today.

Loktak waterbird population dips from last year

Significantly, the recorded number of population of 16,365 is below the criterion of Ramsar Convention, which states that a Ramsar site should regularly support 20,000 or more waterbirds.

Notably, 2015 recorded the highest population of birds at 50,725 .

The year 2022 recorded the second highest population at 47,472 .

The recorded population in 2023 was 23,105, and in 2024 was 14,235 .

The 56 species recorded this year include birds of 14 families, with the Anatidae family dominating with 15 species and 6,858 individuals recorded.

Out of the 56 waterbird species, 24 are resident, 29 are migratory and 3 are local migratory--revealing that the migratory species make up 52% of the total population, followed by resident species (43%) and local migratory species (5%) .

The census (2026) recorded three near threatened species, Ferruginous Pochard, Black-tailed Godwit and Northern Lapwing, along with one vulnerable species, Common Pochard and 52 Least Concern species.

Lesser Whistling Duck recorded the maximum number of individuals at 5373, followed by Common Coot (2560), Common Moorhen (1173) and Indian Pond Heron (1101).Only one individual bird each of Baillon's Crake, Black-tailed Godwit, Brown-headed Gull, Darter, Falcated Duck, Great Crested Grebe and Greater Painted Snipe were recorded.

The Takmu sire recorded maximum number of bird population, 1919 birds of 35 species.

The Konuma site recorded 1043 birds, followed by Toubul site (1025), Tangjeng (928) and Ngakrapat (47) .

No birds were observed at the Karang Maning site.