Annual Bird Count Begins At Chilika Lake

Bhubaneswar: The largest brackish water lake in India, Chilika Lake in Odisha, began its annual bird census on Wednesday.

21 teams made up of 105 forest department employees have been engaged in the counting of both domestic and migratory birds, which started at 6 am and will last until 12 pm today, according to official sources.

Balugaan, Tangi, Chilika, Rambha, and Satapada are the five ranges under Chilika Wildlife Division where the migratory bird census is being done.

Each team is equipped with binoculars, walkie-talkies, GPS trackers, and other tools to undertake the annual census.

Around 100 bird enthusiasts from various groups participated in a training program for the enumerators that was held on Monday at the Wetland Training and Research Centre, Chandraput, close to Balugaon, as part of the procedure.

At Chilika Lake, bird counts are conducted annually. Every year, millions of migrating birds come to the lake from far-off places including northern Eurasia, Siberia, the Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, Lake Baikal, and remote regions of Russia and other neighbouring nations, and then leave before the start of summer to return home.

During the annual summer survey, which was conducted at the lake in May of last year, up to 48,728 birds of 106 species were counted.