The Forest Department is all set to conduct a bird census in the Biligiriranganathaswamy Tiger (BRT) Reserve forest in November, after a gap of 15 years.

The Biligiriranganabetta is a unique hill where the Eastern and Western Ghats meet. It is home to more than 1,000 varieties of plants. Twenty-four varieties of mammals, 22 varieties of reptiles, 11 species of bipeds and 145 species of butterflies are found in the forest. So far, 274 varieties of birds have been identified in the reserve forests. Among them, 18 are on the verge of extinction. Ornithologists from Bangalore, M B Krishna and S Subramanya, had conducted a bird census in the reserve forest in 1997. In subsequent years, several ornithologists conducted studies at Biligiriranganabetta. But census was never undertaken again.