11-Feb-2023:  First Sundarban Bird Festival was organised by the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR) division

Sundarban Bird Festival

• First-ever festival organized by the Sundarban Tiger Reserve (STR) division of the West Bengal Forest Department
• 145 different bird species were sighted during the festival. This provides a baseline data on Sundarbans' bird species diversity.
• Species recorded during the festival included 78 forest birds and 42 species of waders, raptors, etc. Some of the birds spotted are Eurasian Curlew (Near Threatened), Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker (Least Concern), Lesser Sandplover (Least Concern) among others.

Sundarban Biosphere Reserve

• Located on the delta of the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers in the Bay of Bengal.
• Includes Sundarban Tiger Reserve, Sundarban National Park (core area), Halliday Island and Lothian Island Wildlife Sanctuaries with Sajnakhali Wildlife Sanctuary forming its buffer area.
• Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Flora: Moist tropical forests and tidal forests.
• Fauna: Home to Royal Bengal Tiger, Estuarine Crocodile, Gangetic Dolphin, Water Monitor Lizard, and 428 bird species.

Sundarbans

• is a cluster of low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal, spread across India and Bangladesh. They are famous for its unique mangrove forests.
• Sundarbans forest in India is divided into the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and 24 Parganas (South) Forest Division. Together with the forest in Bangladesh, it is the only mangrove forest in the world where tigers are found.
• Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) recorded 428 bird species in the Sundarbans, which is one-third of all the avian species found in the country.
• Habitat faces threats including plantation activity along the chars (river islands) which disturbs the birds, and illegal activities along chars and uninhabited islands.