The Okhla Bird Sanctuary is located in Noida, Gautam Buddh Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India.
It is situated at the Okhla Barrage over Yamuna River near Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border.
It is also known as the Okhla Bird Reserve.
It is home to over 300 bird species, including both terrestrial and water birds.
The bird sanctuary is among the wetlands falling in the Central Asian Flyway.
In 1943 to 1945, Major-General H. P. W. Hutson conducted ornithological surveys in the Delhi region, including Okhla.
In 1986, the construction of a barrage and the subsequent formation of a lake significantly transformed the Okhla area.
In 1990, the Government of Uttar Pradesh designated an area of 4 square kilometers along the river Yamuna as a bird sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Area: It covers an area of about 4 square kilometers.
River: The Okhla Bird Sanctuary is situated along the banks of the Yamuna River.
Lake: The bird sanctuary features a lake (Okhla Barrage) that was formed as a result of the construction of a barrage on the Yamuna River in 1986.
Flora: The flora found in the Okhla Bird Sanctuary are:
Aquatic Plants (water hyacinth, lotus, water lilies, and submerged plants like Vallisneria and Hydrilla),
Marshland Vegetation (reeds, cattails, bulrushes, and sedges),
Riparian Vegetation (Banyan, Peepal, Neem, Babul, Indian rosewood, ber, and jujube),
Grasses and Herbs (elephant grass, bulrush grass, Bermuda grass, and various wildflowers).
Birds: White-rumped Vulture, Indian Vulture, Baer’s Pochard, Indian Skimmer, Sarus Crane, Common Teal, Lesser Adjutant, Black-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Wigeon, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Sociable Lapwing, Greater Flamingo, Northern Shoveler, Common Greenshank, Ruddy Shelduck, Northern Pintail, Baikal Teal, Marsh Sandpiper, Black-necked Stork, Bar-headed Goose, Pied Avocet, Common Sandpiper etc.