They were four of 50-odd birds belonging to the parakeet family. These protected birds were seized by officials of Chandaka forest range on October 4 from two bird traders of Jamshedpur in Bihar while being sold in the city. The seized birds were released the next day.

On Monday, four birds were found dead in the jungles of Khandagiri forest range. Two black headed monikker birds had already died before they could be released.

According to highly placed sources in Khandagiri forest range, the dead birds were found by the villagers who informed the officials. While three of the dead birds were of the blossom headed parakeet, one was of the rose ringed parakeetspecies, sources said.

Contacted, a staff of the range office said the birds might have been killed by occasional bird hunters who at times come to the forests for outings and not by poachers.

The release of the endangered birds in a denuded forest like Khandagiri has evoked sharp reaction among wildlife activists. ``The birds should have been released in the dense forests of Chandaka to enable them to be close to their natural habitat. Such species are used to stay in dense jungles,'' said Secretary of Wildlife Society of Orissa, Biswajit Mohanty.

While the parakeet and monikeer family birds are used to nest in the hollows of tall trees, the Khandagiri forests do not have tall trees with hollows.

However, a senior range official, requesting anonymity, said the birds had to be released as two of them had died while in captivity.

The home-made glue, fixed on the wings of the birds by the catchers so that they could not fly, was reportedly not removed before the release and two monikeer birds arebelieved to have died due to the glue.