Mergus Merganser birds in Balasore. Telegraph pictures

Balasore, Jan. 19: A new bird has been sighted during the mid-winter waterfowl census in Balasore wildlife division. The census began on Tuesday.

The bird, Mergus Merganser, was found at Laxmipada chada, a sand bath on the Subarnarekha river mouth in Balasore on Thursday.

“It is a migratory bird of Duck family having 66 cm. size. For the first time the bird is reported in Odisha Wildlife Division .The identification of bird has been confirmed with ornithologist Dr. UN Dev, and Bibhas Pandab of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun” said divisional forest officer Harsha Bardhan Udgata.

“The bird is native to Ladakh, Mongolia, Pakistan and Tibet. In winter, they migrate till north Indian rivers, lakes and fast flowing streams. But they have never been seen visiting Odisha. The bird is well known as a good fish-hunter. They might have come so far in search of food because of severe cold in north India,” he said.

Twenty-seven of these birds were seen in a group on the Subarnarekha river mouth.

The head and back of the male bird is black with metallic green purple gloss. It has a thin neck, a pointed red bill and red legs on its grayish white body. The female has a rufous head with single pointed crest.

The census for the water fowl is being carried out mainly near the Subarnarekha mouth, the Budhabalanga mouth, Integrated test range (ITR) campus in Chandipur, Risia, Sindhua, Khamkot, Bogalibandha, Parikhi, Rupakhand , Kantiachira, and Padmatola in Nilgiri.

Jayant Mardaraj, a member of the team, said: “The census is in progress and will culminate on Saturday.”

In Mayurbhanj, the Striated Heron was detected for the first time during a two day midwinter water fowl census undertaken by the district forest division that concluded recently. The census was carried out near 28 selected wetlands under the territorial forest divisions of Baripada, Rairangpur and Karanjia as many as 40 species of birds including migratory ones were found.

The enumerating teams found nearly 4,100 winged guests. Nesa under Rairangpur forest division was their favourite destination. The two other preferred sites were Badjor under Baripada forest division and Suelipat Rairangpur. “Of the 40 species, 11 migrated from central Asia and the others were local ones,” said regional chief conservator of forest Anup Kumar Nayak, adding that the striated heron had been detected for the first time in the area.

Ducks and geese were predominantly found among the migratory species. Lesser Whistling was the most commonly found species. Fulvous Whistling duck, Red Crested Poachard, Tufted duck, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Common Teal and Ferruginous duck were the other species that were prominently found by the teams during the census.

Seven teams comprising forest officials and bird researchers were formed to conduct the census. They trained to identify the birds’ features and census techniques at the office of regional chief conservator. This year, the number of birds was 2,000 less than last year. “The recent calamities and felling of trees could be the reasons behind the declining number of birds,” Nayak said.