Alipurduar:

The second edition of the annual bird festival was inaugurated at the Buxa Tiger Reserve on Saturday.

The state forest department and Siliguri-based Himalayan Nature & Adventure Foundation (HNAF) are jointly organising the event.

Forty bird lovers and experts from different parts of Bengal and even from Delhi are participating at the four-day fest.

The Buxa Tiger Reserve is rich in avifauna and the fest is unique as it aims to bring together eminent ornithologists, researchers and bird enthusiasts from the region. “It (the fest) offers an opportunity to explore nature’s avifauna in this region alongside the rich biodiversity and wilderness of BTR,” Ravikant Sinha, the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) of the state, said after inaugurating the fest.

The fest will also help foresters to make a checklist of the birds available in the reserve, generate awareness among people about conservation of birds and study their habitat, said foresters.

Last year, 127 species of birds were sighted during the fest. They included rare birds like the mountain imperial pigeon, Rufous-bellied hawk eagle, Silver-eared mesia, Jerdon’s baza, Sultan tit, Brown dipper and wreathed hornbill.

“We want to highlight the avian population in Buxa, which is no less attractive (than the animals) . We have plans to make it a state-level festival in the coming years. The Buxa Hills are comparatively undisturbed and we hope more species will be sighted this year,” said Sinha.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Home> West Bengal / by Anirban Choudhury / January 07th, 2018