BHUBANESWAR: Cyclone Fani, which ravaged the green cover along Odisha coast, has failed to dent the population of weaver birds which made a jump of 5,552 over the previous year, creating an all-time record.
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As per the survey conducted by Wild Orissa, an organisation for conservation of wildlife and nature, and Odisha Chapter of Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN), this year’s count of weaver birds stood at 17,228 against the last year’s 11,676.
The census was conducted between June 1 and July 15 to count three species of weaver birds belonging to family Ploceidae - Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus, Streaked Weaver Ploceus manyar and Black-breasted Weaver or Black-throated Weaver Ploceus benghalensis.
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As per the census, there are at least 14,193 Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus, 3,000 Streaked Weaver Ploceus manyar and 35 Black-breasted Weaver Ploceus benghalensis.
Members of the bird census programme said Odisha, which has stood first among the states in the country with regards to weaver bird number this year, also topped in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Wild Orissa members said the huge count was possible due to participation of the people. The districts that were covered in the census include Angul, Bhadrak, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsingpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangur, Nayagarh, Phulbani, Puri, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.