KalingaTV News Network
Khurda: The the annual bird census began in several wetlands under different wildlife sanctuaries in the state including Chilika Lake on Wednesday.
As many as 21 teams of the wildlife wing of the Odisha forest department have been roped in for the bird counting at Chilika, Balugaon, Satpada, Tangi and Rambha range under Khurda forest division and Brahmagiri and Nuapada range under Puri forest division.
Balugaon Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) informed that there are five members in each team. Officials of wildlife organisations, several ornithologists, wildlife activists, students of Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) are in the teams.
Birds from far off places like the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, remote parts of Russia, Central and South East Asia, Ladakh and the Himalayas come to different wetlands in Odisha every winter for feeding and roosting. As many as 9,47,119 migratory birds of 167 species had visited the state last year, said sources.
Kalinga AI