1.38 lakh migratory birds spotted in Odisha's Bhitarkanika

Kendrapara (Odisha), Jan 14

A total of 1,38,107 winged guests were spotted in Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha’s Kendrapara district this winter, 2,015 or 1.5 per cent more than the previous year, officials said on Friday.

Many rare and endangered species were counted in the census recently carried out in the wetlands, which is the country’s second-largest mangrove ecosystem.

As many as 144 avian species were counted as compared to 121 last year. A total of 1,36,092 birds were spotted in 2021. The mid-winter census was conducted by the Forest Department on Tuesday and the data was released a day later.

The number of geese and ducks was at the top, followed by gulls, terns, and skimmers. There were grebes, cormorants, darters, egrets, bitterns, ibises and finfoots, the officials said, adding that all these species come under rare or threatened categories.

The birds migrate to warmer destinations to escape the bitter cold in their native places during winter and return once the mercury rises.