Kotdwar (U'khand), Feb 3 (PTI) A three-day bird festival began here on Friday with an aim to connect bird watching to tourism.

Being organised jointly by the district administration and the forest department, the festival was inaugurated by Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Ritu Khanduri who is also the BJP MLA from Kotdwar.

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The festival is being held after a gap of five years, Pauri District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said.

The event is likely to attract bird watchers from all over the country and abroad as Lansdowne forest division in which it is being held is home to a majority of around 800 bird species found across Uttarakhand.

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"The region contains a large avian world which can be of great delight to ornithologists. The main purpose of the event is to connect bird watching with tourism," Khanduri said.

During the three-day festival, tourists and bird lovers will be taken to Rikhnikhal and Mandal valley by guides to see different species of birds often seen in the area including rail billed leiothrix, slaty blue flycatcher, Himalayan rubythroat, spotted forktail, grey headed flycatcher, oriental pied hornbills, palash eagle and crimson sun bird.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)