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We studied the diversity, abundance and population trends in three flourishing wetlands of southern Bengal over 16 years.  These wetlands constituted a major shift from the present scenario of overall wetland deterioration, including monotonous declines in important winter visitors prevailing in surrounding wetlands, especially in Tilpara Reservoir and Purulia Saheb Bandh Lake.  All the three wetlands support rich waterbird diversity and almost all of them tend to exhibit consistently stable or increasing trends in their populations during the course of the study.  The waterbird communities did not differ greatly during the study period and were tending to arrive at their equilibria.  These wetlands consistently support strong waterbird food-bases, which may support rich diversity.  Since, they have already been supporting increasing or stable populations of a majority of the important waterbird species they are expected to emerge as important waterbird abodes in northeastern India very soon, provided we keep them undisturbed and allow them to follow their own course.

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