Bird count to start at Karnala, Phansad sanctuaries next week

The bird count is a five-year project commissioned last year. “This is a scientific bird census conducted four times a year – during winter, post-monsoon, in spring, and in summer. We rope in bird experts as well as beginners from different parts of the country

Mumbai: Avid bird watchers from Kerala, Assam, Chhattisgarh etc. will soon congregate at Karnala and Phansad bird sanctuaries next week as the 7th edition of the bird count conducted by the state forest department along with NGO Green Works Trust (GWT) will commence from March 10.

The project is intended not just for sighting, but also to learn about the migratory pattern, their habitats etc. We are also conducting the comparative analysis of the birds sighted earlier so that appropriate measures and policy decisions can be taken towards the conservation and preservation of the species (HT Photo)

The scientific bird count at Karnala is to be conducted from March 10 to 12 and at Phansad sanctuary, it will be conducted from March 17 to 19.

The bird count is a five-year project commissioned last year. “This is a scientific bird census conducted four times a year – during winter, post-monsoon, in spring, and in summer. We rope in bird experts as well as beginners from different parts of the country. These birders are then divided into five teams and each takes up a trail that covers over three km of the sanctuary,” said Deepali Bhopale, awareness officer of GWT.

The survey will be undertaken through the Line Transect distance method and point count method.

Five teams are to be formed and each will be guided by a volunteer from the trust as well as a forest guard. “Untrodden trails are identified so that the possibility of sightings of rare species of birds increases. The project is intended not just for sighting, but also to learn about the migratory pattern, their habitats etc. We are also conducting the comparative analysis of the birds sighted earlier so that appropriate measures and policy decisions can be taken towards the conservation and preservation of the species,” said Bhopale.

Trials conducted in previous editions had led birders to sight rare species like the Rufous-bellied eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Yellow Browed Warbler, and Forest Wagtail at Karnala. The sightings recorded at Phansad were Frogmouth, Malabar Pied Hornbill etc.

More than 190 species of birds have been identified so far at Karnala bird sanctuary, whereas over 230 species have been recorded at Phansad. “During the bird count last year, an Egyptian vulture was sighted for the first time at Phansad after a gap of seven years. It was this sighting that led us to commence with the Jataayu project intended in reviving the species of vulture in the area,” informed the officer.