In a conservation effort to monitor seasonal fluctuations in birds' movements, the ringing of oriental darters has been taken up in the world-famous Bharatpur bird sanctuary (officially Keoladeo National Park) after a gap of 22 years. 

The ringing of darters, or snakebirds, with colourful bands will help ascertain their habit of reporting back at the nests used earlier by them.

Oriental darters have been classified as “near-threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

It has a long and slender neck which looks like a snake when it swims and dives into water to catch a fish.

Its sharp and long beak is helpful in puncturing the fish which it brings out of water to toss it up in air and swallow it.

The darter hunts for fish while its body is submerged in the water.

Bird ringing or bird banding is the attachment of a small, individually numbered metal or plastic tag to the leg or wing of a wild bird to enable individual identification.

This helps in keeping track of the movements of the bird and its life history.