Spread across an area of 1.8 sq. km. on the western tip of the Island of Chorão, along the Mandovi River, lies the smallest wildlife sanctuary in Goa, the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, named after the eminent Indian ornithologist Dr. Salim Moizzudin Ali.
The sanctuary, an estuarine mangrove habitat, is a paradise for bird watchers, as a wide array of migratory birds can be spotted here. It is host to a number of common and uncommon species of marsh-dwelling birds and animals. Visitors can see white egrets and purple herons, as well as colourful kingfishers, eagles, cormorants, kites, woodpeckers, sandpipers, curlews, drongos, and mynahs on a fairly regular basis. Other, more rare inhabitants of the sanctuary include the little bittern, black bittern, red knot, jack snipe, and pied avocet (on transient sandbanks). The migratory birds that make their homes here include pintail ducks.
In addition to birds, there are some species of reptiles and crustaceans that make their home amongst the mangroves. These include mudskippers, fiddler crabs, crocodiles, otters, flying foxes, and jackals.
