The annual bird counting exercise commenced in Hirakud Dam Reservoir on Friday morning.
The head counting of the avian species began at 5 AM and will continue till 5 PM today, informed a forest official.
As per reports, as many as 38 teams comprising forest staff from Sambalpur, Baragarh and Jharsuguda divisions have been engaged in the enumeration of both the domestic and migratory birds at the Hirakud reservoir area and in the power channel.
The census is underway in the Hirakud reservoir which covers an area of around 533 Sq. Kilometers and the power channel of area about 5.7 Sq. Kilometers. The reservoir has been divided into 18 sectors and the power channel has been divided into 3 sectors. 30 boats have been deployed for the movement of the census teams in aquatic areas to carry out the survey work, said reports.
This year's bird census will also include the area of Sukhasoda (38 square kilometres) on the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border for the first time.
The report of the annual migratory bird census in the Dam will be revealed on January 9.
Notably, a total number of 1, 24, 864 birds of 98 species visited the Hirakud Dam Reservoir last year, of which 1,03,117 birds of 41 species were migratory birds.