KENDRAPARA: With the onset of monsoon, thousands of residential birds have started arriving at Bagagahan within the Bhitarkanika National Park for breeding and nesting.
Bagagahan is considered an abode of avian species, that wears a colourful look during the monsoon. The dense mangrove vegetation and its serene pollution free atmosphere have once again proved an alluring attraction for thousands of winged visitors. Birds have started building their nests on trees indicating their keenness to either stay put or for the periodical nestling to breed and lay the eggs .
“More than 60,000 local avian species have arrived recently in Bhitarkanika for nesting in the Bagagahan. Thousands of birds step up their nesting activities and are known to breed during the monsoon season. More than 14 species of birds have already been arrived in the Bagagahana,” said Kedar Kumar Swain, Bhitarkanika DFO.
Some of the local bird varieties that have arrived are Open Bill Stork, Little Cormorant, Intermediate Egret, Large Egret, Little Egret, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, Night Heron, Darter, White Ibis and Cattle Egret.
The avian species selectively use species of mangroves for constructing nests in the trees of Guan, Sundari, Sinduka, Bani and Jagula. With the onset of monsoon, every year during the mid of June, these birds congregate in large number and the nesting process gets over by the end of November.
According to the Bhitarkanika official sources, open bill stork forms a majority of the total nesting population.