Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the 3rd National Chilika Bird Festival through video conferencing on Friday.
The festival is an experience of a lifetime to be with the winged guests in this birds’ paradise during winter, the Chief Minister said.
The three-day festival is timed to revel in the glory of 10 lakhs winged visitors of 200 species at Mangalajodi during the winters in Odisha,
Mangalajodi, situated in the north eastern part of Chilika, the largest brackish water lake of Asia, is known as the “Birds Paradise of Asia” for a reason. Lakhs of winged guests from all over the world throng the bird sanctuary during the winter.
Mangalajodi is a shining beacon in the Conservation story of India. It’s a living example of how conservation can generate livelihood and banish the menace of poaching. It is a photographer’s paradise as birds are seen at eye level and at close proximity.
Chilika lies in the Central Asian Flyway for birds and is a major stopover for migratory birds from the arctic and sub-arctic during their onward and return migration along the east coast. The variety of habitats in the Island such as mudflats, floating and submerged vegetation, reed-beds, open waters with varying depth and salinity attract a variety of migratory and resident bird species.
Considering its importance as a major congregation site for migratory waders and ducks and the huge population of birds it supports it has been recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention and has been included in the Ramsar list. Mangalajodi freshwater wetland and Nalabana Island which form part of the Chilika lake have been identified as Important Bird Areas (IBA), according to the Odisha Tourism.
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