Kendrapara: Thousands of residential birds have started arriving at Matha-adiha and Laxmiprasad Dia heronry within the Bhitarkanika National Park here for breeding and nesting.
Rajnagar Mangrove Forest and Wildlife Division DFO Bikash Ranjan Das said Matha-adiha heronry seems to be the favourite nesting and breeding place for these monsoon birds for the last half a decade.
The monsoon birds chose Laxmiprasad Dia last year for nesting and breeding. However, the birds skipped Bagagahan heronry, which was the favourite nesting place for these residential birds for several years in the past.
The dense mangrove vegetation and its serene pollution free atmosphere have once again proved alluring for the winged visitors.
The DFO said 11 types of residential birds—open bill stork, little cormorant, intermediate egret, large egret, little egret, purple heron, grey heron, night heron, darter, white ibis and cattle egret— throng Bhitarknaika National Park every year for nesting and breeding during the monsoon.
The avian species selectively use species of mangroves for constructing nests in the trees of guan, sundari, sinduka, bani and jagula.
This time, 5,000 birds of four species—egret, darter, cormorant, and open bill stork—thronged the Bhitarknika National Park.
Every year, with the onset of monsoon, these birds generally come in large numbers to Bhitarkanika National Park and the nesting process gets over by the end of November.
Last year, an estimated 1,07,910 monsoon bird species, including 50,022 chicks, were spotted and 19,296 nests were sighted during census drive at Laxmiprasad Dia and Matha-adia heronry.
Similarly, the forest personnel had spotted 2,541 birds, including 1,155 chicks and 924 adults in 462 nests at Matha-adia heronry during last monsoon.
As many as 10 out of 11 types of species, which generally throng Bhitarkanika every monsoon, came last time too to the Matha-adia and Laxmiprasad Dia heronry.
UNI