Delhi: 214 species seen on Big Bird Day, count lowest in 8 years

According to bird watchers, a combination of high temperature, coupled with above normal rainfall over the last few months may have forced an early departure of some migratory birds.

A total of 214 different bird species were recorded during this year’s Big Bird Day count 2022 held across Delhi-NCR on Sunday, according to the results of the count released on Thursday.

Ferruginous pochard spotted during Big Bird Day 2022 at the Yamuna Biodiversity Park. (Sourced)

Birders said this is the lowest sightings since 2014 when 206 bird species were recorded during the event. A total of 244 species were recorded during last year’s count, held on February 21 and 253 species were seen in 2020. In 2019, 247 species were sighted, and birders counted 237 species in 2018. The count is generally held in the months of January or February each year.

The count is held annually and is organised by a group of birders across NCR, with a check list uploaded on the online portal eBird, where the final tally is calculated.

According to bird watchers, a combination of high temperature, coupled with above normal rainfall over the last few months may have forced an early departure of some migratory birds. They added that since there were more spaces for water spaces for birds across NCR this year, different species did not stay in just one wetland.

“Numbers are quite low this year. The lowest in the last several years, and it was largely due to high temperatures. The count was held on February 21 last year. Last year, we had fog during the early hours, and the temperatures remained low till the afternoon. In comparison, it had become extremely hot by the afternoon this year, and some birds may have not left the wetlands,” said Nikhil Devasar, one of the organizers of the annual bird count.

Among the interesting species recorded this year included the merlin and the short-eared owl in Jhanjhraula (Haryana), the brown shrike, the black hooded oriole in Surajpur (Uttar Pradesh), the great crested grebe in NTPC Jharli (Haryana) and the great white pelican in Okhla (Delhi) and Mandothi (Haryana). Mandothi also recorded the highest number of species at 126.

According to the count, considerable bird diversity was found across Delhi’s seven biodiversity parks – Aravalli, Neela Hauz, Tilpath Valley, Neela Hauz, Kalindi Kunj, Yamuna and Kamla Nehru ridge.

Birders said marsh harrier, ferruginous pochard and grey bushchat were some of the interesting sightings at Yamuna biodiversity park, and the eastern orphean warbler and the black eagle were among the noteworthy sightings at the Aravalli biodiversity park.

According to birder Kanwar B Singh, a mix of factors may have led to a lower count of species this year. “Birders generally go to the same sites and spots each year where birds typically congregate. Over the last few months, we have seen above normal rainfall and pools of water has been seen in locations which are generally dry during this time of the year. So, birds may have spread out evenly across the habitats,” he said.

Surya Prakash, a birder and zoologist from JNU who went birding around the university reported sightings of the white capped bunting, a pair of Indian scops owl and yellow wattled lapwings in the area. “Temperatures are currently high and have gone up quickly as compared to the first week of February. This may have affected the bird movement to an extent,” he said, commenting on the low number of bird species counted this year.