Birds, Fish, Frogs & Dragonflies: The Hidden Life Inside India’s Familiar Ponds

If you grew up near a pond, you may remember it by what happened around it: fish breaking the surface, frogs calling after rain, dragonflies hovering over the water, or an egret standing at the edge waiting for a catch.

Across India, these familiar places have different names. In Bengal, there is the pukur; in Rajasthan, the johad; in Tamil Nadu, the eri and kulam; in Karnataka, the kere; in Odisha, the pokhari; elsewhere, you may know one as a talao; and in Assam, there is the beel.

They differ in where their water comes from, how deep they are, how long they hold water and how they change through the seasons. Those differences also shape the fish, frogs, insects, reptiles and birds that live in and around them.

Here are eight examples from across India.

1. Pukur, West Bengal: A whole food chain in one pond

A pukur may sit beside homes, fields or village paths, but there is plenty happening beneath its surface.

Fish feed on algae, plants, insects and smaller organisms. Frogs hunt insects along the edges. Dragonfly and damselfly young spend part of their lives underwater, alongside beetles, mosquito larvae, snails, plankton and other tiny organisms.

Then come the hunters. Water snakes feed on fish and frogs, while kingfishers, pond herons and egrets arrive looking for their next meal.

A freshwater conservation pond in the Sundarbans, for instance, has recorded native fish, frogs, snakes, birds and dozens of varieties of dragonflies and damselflies.

2. Johad, Rajasthan: When rain brings life

A johad collects monsoon runoff and helps water seep into the ground.

In Rajasthan’s dry landscape, that can make a big difference. Once rainwater gathers, algae and plants begin supporting insects and other small creatures. Tadpoles can develop in temporary pools, frogs arrive to breed, and birds and other animals come to drink and feed.

Here, something as simple as water collecting after rain can create food and shelter for many animals in a place where water is scarce.

3. Eri, Tamil Nadu: A pond that changes with the seasons

Traditional eris are irrigation tanks that collect and distribute rainwater, and their water levels rise and fall with rainfall and use.

When the water is deeper, fish, frogs and insects use the open water and vegetation. As levels fall, shallow stretches and muddy areas appear.

Those edges become feeding grounds for birds searching for fish, frogs and small creatures. Egrets, herons, jacanas, storks, ibises and other resident and migratory birds can all use different parts of these tanks as conditions change.

4. Kere, Karnataka: Water for people and animals

Keres are part of Karnataka’s long history of storing and harvesting water, especially around villages and farms.

Their open water, plants and shallow edges can support fish, insects, frogs and birds. The condition of the water and its banks plays a major role in deciding how much life can continue to use them.

5. Pokhari, Odisha: Part of village life

In Odisha, pokharis are traditional village tanks that collect runoff and help water seep into the ground.

For generations, these shared ponds have also been part of everyday village life. Land, water, plants, animals and people all meet around the same space, making the pond part of a much larger living system.

6. Kulam, Tamil Nadu: Water moving from one pond to another

Along the Thamirabarani, kulams can be part of connected systems of tanks, canals and sluices.

Water moves between them, storing rain and river water and supporting farming along the way. The same network can also provide space for fish and other water life, as well as native and migratory birds.

7. Talao: Life gathers at the edges

Talao may be the word many people grew up using for a pond or lake.

Much of its life is concentrated around the edges. Plants and muddy shallows give frogs places to breed, dragonflies places to emerge and birds places to feed.

Freshwater turtles may feed in the water, while snakes hunt fish and frogs. Even dead leaves and plants matter. As they break down at the bottom, they return nutrients to the water and feed tiny organisms that sit at the base of the food chain.

8. Beel, Assam: A lake that follows the floods

A beel is closely connected to Assam’s floodplains and changes with the seasons.

During the monsoon, water can spread into the surrounding land, opening new feeding and breeding areas for fish and frogs. Freshwater turtles and water snakes use these wet areas for food and shelter, while otters may move through connected stretches of water.

As the water recedes, shallow areas and exposed mud give birds new places to feed.

And what happens when these places change?

A pond can still exist on a map and lose much of the life it once supported.

Remove plants from the edges and frogs lose breeding spaces. Concrete over muddy banks and wading birds lose places to feed. Sewage, farm chemicals and invasive plants can affect water quality, while too much water extraction can change water levels.

When many such ponds disappear, the impact can spread further. Across farms and villages, small ponds can act like a chain of resting, feeding and breeding spaces between larger lakes, fields and forests.

Protecting them can begin with fairly simple choices: keeping some banks natural, allowing plants to grow along parts of the edge and keeping dirty water and waste out.

So the next time you see a pond, look a little closer.

The frog calls, dragonflies, fish below the surface or bird waiting along the bank may be signs of an entire living world sharing that water.

Sources:

‘Water troughs, ponds being filled up for wildlife in Kovai forests’: by Express News Service, Published on 10 April 2026

‘Gurugram forest dept fills artificial ponds to support wildlife in Aravallis’: By Leena Dhankhar, Published on 6 May 2026

‘How A Wildlife Photographer Built 130 Ponds And Revived Rajasthan’s Desert Fauna’: by Anwesha Santra, Published on 3 November 2025

‘Kolkata Lawyer Turns Forgotten Land Into a Dragonfly Conservation Pond in the Sundarbans’: By Hiren Kumar Bose, Published on 2 March 2026

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com