As early as in 1920, a British Police Officer recorded 27 species of birds around the Beas river. Prior to 1976, the Beas flowed in the region. Thousands of families were displaced for the construction of Pong Dam.

The lake is an excellent feeding ground for certain insectivorous, herbivorous, wading and diving water birds. Some of the common birds visiting the lake are Brahminy ducks, sarus crane, black-necked grebes, red-necked grebes, large cormorants, Indian shag, darter, eastern grey heron, pintails, large egrets, little egrets, cattke egrets, black stork, bar-headed goose, mallards, gadwalls, wigeons, shovllers, common pochards, white-eyed pochards, tufted duck, Indian moorhens, Indian purple moorhens, coots, great black-headed gulls, black-headed gulls, little gulls, river terns, osprey and marsh harriers. The red-necked grebe was sighted in this wetland for the first time in February 1989.

The wetlands in Europe and North and Central Asia freeze during winters and the food supply becomes inadequate under snow cover. Millions of water birds after breeding in summer undertake journeys along the major river valleys over the continent of Asia and the western Pacific regions to spend winter in more congenial climatic conditions of the Indian subcontinent. A massive number of migratory water birds visit the Pong wetland every year and add to the natural beauty of this area. They generally start reaching Pong Lake from October onwards and begin their journey back during the end of March. According to the survey done by the wildlife wing, about 70,000 migratory birds were counted during the year 2000-2001.

The census of migratory birds in the Pong reservoir is taken in February every year by the wildlife wing of the Forest Department. The entire lake area is divided into eight segments. Rowing boats are used to avoid any disturbance to the birds while counting their number. Census records show that the number of waterfowls has increased considerably over the last three years. As per the survey conducted in February 2002, there were as many as 1,14,082 migratory birds. It was found that the number of bar-headed geese and pintails had gone up considerably. A number of bar-headed geese, Brahminy ducks were found in green fields. Black stork was sighted on December 14, 2002, after a period of about 15 years. It is generally found in marshes, freshwater lakes and fields. This bird was seen in a small pond on the shore of the lake. Black stork, a carnivorous, breeds in Eurasia and is a winter migrant to northern India. White stork and white-necked stork were also sighted this year in the sanctuary area after a long period. Intensive patrolling and supervision is being done in and around Pong Lake to shield these winter guests from poachers.

The Pong reservoir has four islands: two of which — Rainsar and Karu — have plenty of space apart from a congenial habitat for the winter guests. All the four islands with rich flora and fauna provide an attractive base for the birds.

Despite its various attractions — migratory birds, water sports, angling, etc — Pong Lake continues to remain a secluded spot. This may be because of security restrictions around the dam area. However, the state government has endeavoured to bring Pong Lake on the international tourist map. A spacious and beautiful restaurant was opened two years ago. The construction of civil terminal at Pathankot airport is likely to give an impetus to the flow of tourists to the Pong wetland. The reservoir is about 70 km from Pathankot.