A two-day water bird census has begun in the Tiger Reserve at Palamu. The census is being conducted by a team of ornithologists including Satya Prakash of VBU Hazaribag, Kelvin Paul and Rajesh Kumar both from Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai. For the water bird census, the Jharkhand Forest department has reached an MoU with Asian Waterbird Census. Wetland International is conducting this census. DFO Core of the tiger reserve at Palamu, Premjit and latehar DFO Mamta Priyadarshi are also lending valuable co-operation, said sources.
Much of the water birds are counted or identified, there is the least interest in bird watching in the tiger reserve. In a span of 40 years, there hasn’t been any avian club for bird watching in the city. Tiger sighting still is the most prized and has been encouraged by the PTR as one, who sights a tiger in the National Park Betla, gets his/her name registered in the sight board for the benefit of the tourists till someone else sights the big cat.
The DFO Core of the PTR Premjit Anand has confirmed the water bird census in the reserve. Palamu’s two water bodies, one a dam called Malay dam and a lake called Kamaldah lake, have been put under the lens of the census team. The dam and the lake are frequented by the migratory birds. However, in the first leg, a migratory bird Gadwall was sighted at Kamaldah lake.
A couple of endangered species of water birds have been captured in camera at Malay dam said the DFO Core. To a question if migratory birds or endangered species of bird are roasted in the jungle for food, Anand said the villagers living near the dam and the lake are silent over it. It is guessed the migratory birds are of Siberia. Asked if birds are here from Africa, Anand said, “I have no idea, but just heard about it at a place away from this district”.
There is no organised bird poaching except the one bird lark (bageri), which is netted and sold in winter. In 2013, the DFO buffer had seized many larks from a bird seller. Parrots are the other birds, which are smuggled from here to Kolkata. Sources said youth, who roam around the jungles of the PTR, carry ‘gulail’ with them to shoot anything from bird to boar. The bird count is mostly a morning and afternoon affair.