Busy days for birders: Delhi-NCR to host 3 avian counts this month

Birders said these exercises are an opportunity to spot rare species, and are a great way to gauge the diversity and density of birds

The coming days are likely to be a busy time for birders in the National Capital Region (NCR), with at least three activities in which avian enthusiasts will participate in — the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), the annual Big Bird Day (BBD), and an educational Campus Bird Count.

The Ruddy shelduck, spotted at a previous count. (Courtesy Nikhil Devasar)

GBBC and the Campus Bird Count will be held simultaneously from February 14-17, while BBD will be held on February 16, with over 30 teams expected to set out across Delhi-NCR to catch sight of bird species in the region.

Birders said these exercises are an opportunity to spot rare species, and are a great way to gauge the diversity and density of birds in and around Delhi.

In GBBC, avian enthusiasts record birds in their neighbourhood, while participants in the campus count log species at educational institutes. Both counts are global events, and are held every year across four days in February.

These counts are held to study the diversity of birds in different neighbourhoods and cities around the world, with a checklist of species made available once the count is complete for avian documentation. In India, GBBC is coordinated by the Bird Count India — an umbrella group of a large number of birding, nature and conservation organisations and has been held since 2013 in the country.

“GBBC and its sister event Campus Bird Count allows new and aspiring birders to simply record species in their area or campus. This is a fun and easy way of getting into birding. One has to simply click pictures and upload the list on eBird,” said birder Pankaj Gupta, one of the regional coordinators of Bird Count India.

Those wishing to take part in GBBC can head to www.birdcount.in for more details, including a webinar to understand the basics. Individuals will have to list all the avian species they come across over a period of 15 minutes or more, at any time of the day and upload their findings on the eBird (www.ebird.org/india) platform.

Last year, more than 5,000 birders from India participated in the global GBBC, and the country ranked second in terms of submitting bird lists (58,276 checklists), and was third for number of reported species, closely following Colombia and Ecuador. Over 1,036 species were documented — representing 75% of all known bird species in the country.

BBD, meanwhile, is about recording bird species across Delhi-NCR.

“BBD is not just about numbers, but is a celebration of the urban biodiversity in the region. It is also a chance for people to observe nature up close, and an opportunity to foster a deeper connection with the environment,” said Nikhil Devasar, a birder and one of the organisers of Big Bird Day, adding at least 30 teams are likely to take part this year, covering birding hotspots such as Sultanpur, Bhondsi, Mangar Bani, Basai, Dhanauri, Asola Bhatti, and the Yamuna floodplains, among others.

Last year, participants in the exercise spotted 234 species in the region. The highest number of species spotted was in 2005, at 271. In fact, birders have spotted more than 200 species at every single BBD, barring 2007, when the count was held in November and only 183 species were recorded.