Kolkata: This winter came with twin good news both for nature as well as bird watchers. An official reported on Saturday that 145 species of birds were seen during the first Sundarban Bird Festival.
Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in West Bengal had a bird festival over the course of two days, which concluded on Friday.
The Sunderbans region is dispersed among the North and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.
Officials from the forest service have reported seeing 145 species of birds in the Sunderbans this winter, including two that are from extremely rare and almost extinct species.
Sunderban Tiger Reserve's deputy field director, S. Justin Jones, identified the two bird species as the Lesser Sand Plover and the Eurasian Curlew.
The Eurasian Curlew is a species of migratory bird that spends most of its winters in South Asia, South Europe, and Africa. The Lesser Sand Plover spends most of its time above the tree line in the Himalayas and sometimes in the coastal plains of north-eastern Siberia.
According to Jones, although the forest service had previously predicted that about 100 kinds of birds would be observed in the area, the actual discoveries, which numbered 145, were more than expected.
"Of the bird species, 128 were spotted in the buffer zone, Kalas-2 region sighted the maximum number of species," he added.
Meanwhile, a representative from the state's forestry department has stated that measures are being taken to increase the number of migratory bird species that spend the winter in the Sunderbans beginning with the upcoming year.
"The fact that the maximum number of species have been detected in the buffer zones is also a cause of concern. So, we have decided to start awareness campaign drive among the villagers residing near the islands favourite for the migratory species. We will make the villagers aware on how to make these islands an ideal destination for these migratory species of birds," he said.—Inputs from Agencies
