168 bird species recorded this year for Delhi Bird Atlas survey

The month long survey aims to gather 580 checklists and will cover roughly 10% of Delhi’s total area to find and document bird species

Over 168 bird species have been recorded in the Capital between January 1 and 20, featuring on 361 checklists gathered by birders as part of the Delhi Bird Atlas—a detailed guide with bird species in Delhi, their geographical distribution and habitat that is being collated this year. The month-long survey, which aims to cross off 580 checklists, will cover roughly 10% of Delhi’s total geographical area to find and document bird species. A second survey for the summer months is planned in July, with the Atlas expected to be released in December.

Scaly-breasted munia.

Birders, part of the Delhi Bird Foundation and Bird Count India, said the unusual sightings made so far include the grey-headed canary-flycatcher and ultramarine flycatcher, with the presence of the house sparrow – Delhi’s state bird – in 57 checklists being a good sign.

“We were able to spot both the grey-headed canary-flycatcher and ultramarine flycatcher on the same tree in Delhi Cantt. This has been an unusual sighting. Around 15% of 57 checklists had the house sparrow, which despite urbanisation, appears to be a fairly good number for the bird,” said birder Pankaj Gupta, one of the organisers of the count, which is jointly being conducted by Delhi’s forest department in collaboration with volunteers, NGOs and student groups.

Gupta said 28 checklists also had the European starling, a bird which requires open spaces to thrive. “This means Delhi still has a lot of open area and fields. Another such bird, the desert wheatear was spotted in northwest Delhi. We also have recorded a grey-headed canary-flycatcher in Chandni Chowk, which is a densely populated urban area with hardly any trees, so to spot the species there is also a good sign,” he said, adding that 37 teams were involved in recording multiple checklists, each covering a 1sqkm area.

Gupta said each sub-cell will be covered four times, with an average of 15 minutes being spent per assessment. So, for 145 sub-cells — 580 checklists will be prepared, with a total of 145 hours spent birding-on-ground, he said, adding that this count of 168 species will only increase further.

Each checklist is being uploaded on the eBird portal, allowing other birders to track and identify which species have been logged so far.

Mohit Mehta, who has covered multiple sub-cells in Najafgarh, said he had submitted 16 checklists with mixed findings in the area. “We were able to spot a spotted dove, which is slightly unusual for this part of the region. A lot of natural spaces, including grasslands have also been converted to agricultural land or seen construction. In certain cells, we were able to record 20 to 25 different species in the 15-minute period, so that shows even very micro-habitats can have a wide variety,” he said.

Sohail Madan, an ecologist and director of the Wild Tales Foundation, who carried out surveys in urban, peri-urban, and forested habitats of south Delhi including the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, Tilpath Valley, Sanjay Van, Qutub Minar, Rangpuri Pahadi, Sarojini Nagar, and RK Puram, said his teams made some interesting findings which included an abundance of the oriental honey buzzard in the southern ridge cells.

“Migratory species such as the Hume’s warbler were equally at home in urban gardens and forested areas, while uncommon visitors like the common rosefinch were observed in Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary,” said Madan, adding that in urban areas such as RK Puram, pigeons still dominate the landscape.