Sambalpur: A census of migratory birds at Hirakud reservoir in Sambalpur district is scheduled to kick start from January 8, forest officials said.
Teams of Hirakud Wildlife Division and other experts will be engaged in the exercise.
All the members to be deployed in the census will be trained before the drive was launched.
The census will cover the reservoir till the Odisha-Chhattisgarh inter-state boundary.
Every year, thousands of winged guests from Caspian Sea, Baikal Lake, Aral Sea, Mongolia, central and south-east Asia and the Himalayas make Hirakud reservoir their home from November to March.
Common pochard, red crested pochard, spot-billed duck, great crested grebe, pond heron, painted stork, whiskered tern and many more are sighted during this period every year.
Lakhs of avian guests had flocked to the reservoir last year. This year, their arrival started from October.
