The State forest department is set to hold the second phase of the synchronised bird census for terrestrial birds on March 5. The census will be conducted across all 38 districts and in around 20 sites in each district.
District Forest Officers (DFO) will coordinate with department staff and volunteers in their respective regions, said Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas Reddy. The results of the survey from all the regions would be put together within a week after the census, said Mr. Reddy.
Thoothukudi DFO Abhishek Tomar said in each of the 20 locations, around eight people would be involved in surveying birds. In total, nearly 130 volunteers and 40 forest department staff would participate in the census, Mr. Tomar said. A training session would be held for officers and volunteers on March 4 to facilitate exchange of information on bird identification and counting, he added.
The first phase of the census conducted in over 600 wetlands on January 29 showed a dip in the number of birds compared to last year. As per the department, 4.6 lakh birds and 410 species were spotted. Of the total number of birds, around 1.64 lakh were migratory birds.
