Winged guests yet to arrive

SAMBALPUR: The winged guests have become rare at the Hirakud Dam Reservoir (HDR). Blame it on the delay in the onset of winter.   Migratory birds flock to the reservoir under Hirakud Wildlife Division in the first week of November and the four-month sojourn ends in March. Industrialisation in the periphery of the reservoir and climatic changes have the environmentalists worried even as the last few years have witnessed a decline in the number of migratory birds here.   As per available reports, more than 21,160 migratory birds of about 27 species had flown to the reservoir in January 2010. The census counted only 10,722 in January 2011. The reservoir had played host to 56,834 migratory birds of 21 species in 2005. The number dwindled in the succeeding years. Environmentalist and retired Professor of Life Sciences in Sambalpur University, Artabandhu Mishra said availability of feed and safe living conditions determine visit of migratory birds at a place. Unlike Chilika, Hirakud does not have ornithologists coming in to study the behaviour of the winged guests, he added.