Can tell a sparrow from a pigeon, but want to recognise, say, a spotted owlet? Amateur bird-watchers, head to the new tree hut built at Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, on the fringes of the steel city.

The tree hut, built by the forest department at a height of 926m at Pinderbera, offers a great altitude to spy birds. The tree hut stands at a height of 22 feet from the ground.

Divisional forest officer of the Ranchi wildlife division Chandra Mauli Sinha said the facility was for watching birds and not for staying.

“We’ll give a great view of the forested hills and binoculars to visitors,” Sinha said. “The best part is that it is totally free of cost.”

The DFO said they had also set up two bamboo huts where visitors could stay for the day. Then, at a time, a group of six persons at the most can climb up the tree hut. A forest guard will see to it that no more than six persons climb the hut at a time.

Sinha added that though the plinth area of the hut is 10ft by 10ft, it was made of bamboo and for safety’s sake they had decided to allow six visitors at a time. “The crowd at Dalma is fairly decent, so I am sure we won’t have any problems,” he added.

Sinha said visitors to the tree hut could also see elephants and other wild animals.

“Tourists visit Dalma all round the year except for a few months in monsoon, but the tree hut will definitely be a novelty,” the DFO said. He added that Rs 4 lakh was spent on the tree hut and Rs 11 lakh on the two bamboo huts. It will take a month for bookings to start for the bamboo huts.