Checklists for Delhi Bird Atlas submitted on portal

Over 100,000 birds and 221 species recorded in Delhi's Bird Atlas, with 1,156 checklists submitted, aiding long-term avian conservation efforts.

Checklists accounting for more than 100,000 birds and 221 bird species in Delhi have been submitted on the eBird portal, following two birding sessions in the first half of the year, birders associated with creating the Delhi Bird Atlas said on Saturday.

Checklists for Delhi Bird Atlas submitted on portal

The Delhi Bird Atlas is a collaborative initiative aimed at documenting the city’s bird species and is led by Delhi’s birdwatching community and supported by the forest department.

“Birding sites were selected at random within the Delhi region. Birding was done in January 2025 and then again in May-June 2025,” said Pankaj Gupta, a birder involved in the census.

For the census, Delhi was divided into grids of 6.6sqkm, with each grid further split into quadrants of 3.3sqkm and sub-cells of 1.1sqkm. A total of 145 sites or “subcells” were chosen.

“10% of Delhi’s total geographical area was covered. Birders had to cover their designated area multiple times in order to build up reliable data,” Gupta added.

A total of 195 participants were involved in the process, including 126 team members, 59 team leads and 10 cluster leads. The result of the survey led to 221 species being recorded, including 126 resident species, 14 summer migrants and 81 winter migrants.

“At least 1,156 checklists have been submitted on the eBird portal. The total number of birds seen is 122,814, which averages out to 85 per checklist,” Gupta said.

The winter survey in January recorded 200 species — 120 resident species, 80 winter migrants and one summer migrant.

The summer survey of May-June recorded 153 species, including 122 resident species, 13 summer species and 18 winter species.

According to data shared by Gupta, which will eventually be included in the final report for the Delhi Bird Atlas, some resident species which were seen in winter but not in simmer include river tern, Asian wooly-necked stork, oriental darter, eastern barn owl, Asian tit and sand lark. A summer migrant species seen in winter but not in summer was Indian paradise flycatcher.

The winter migrant species seen in summer but not in winter was oriental turtle-dove and resident species in the same category included Bonelli’s eagle, common kingfisher, Eurasian spoonbill, gray-breasted prinia, Indian bushlark, jungle prinia and Rufous-fronted prinia.

Gupta said that all the data will become robust over the years, as birders go out across the capital and keep repeating surveys in their designated areas.

Gupta said that observations of each species is being laid out with respect to summer as well as geographical locations to understand habits of the birds better, providing a holistic picture of Delhi’s avian biodiversity and contributing to long-term conservation efforts.

Officials said that the data is being analysed and a report will be published soon, probably by October, after which the second year of surveys might start in November.