'Big Bird Day' is a day for bird watchers

Bird-watchers and environmentalists across India will take to the outdoors on Sunday, March 8, in a day-long exercise to count the number of species of birds and how many of each species they see around them. This annual exercise called Big Bird Day will see birders (as they are called) make notes and take photographs, to upload on eBird, a real-time, online portal, or on BirdLogAsia app on their smartphones. The objective, says Nikhil Devasar of Delhibird, north India's oldest birding group, which started the initiative in 2013 is to "compile data which measures the bird diversity of a region. Such a database, compiled across several seasons and years, helps tracks changes in bird behaviour and by extension, the environment".

Internationally, many such bird counts are held through the year. The largest, Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBBC) is held simultaneously across the globe over four days. It happened this year from February 13 to 16. India, where GBBC is being held for the past two years, is an enthusiastic participant – last year, 3,358 checklists (lists of birds seen) were submitted by bird-watchers, the third highest number in the world, and India topped the list of species (more than 800) reported. Of course, if you compare with the top two bird-watching countries – United States and Canada, where 124,310 and 13,458 checklists were submitted, respectively, the difference is glaring.

Bird watching is still nascent in India, though it is fast gaining in popularity. Some states such as Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra have enthusiastic, knowledgeable birders, while other, bird-rich areas such as the Northeast, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, etc have few. Last year, as many as 400 teams took part in Big Bird Day, says P Jeganathan, spokesperson for Bird Count India, a consortium of birding groups across the country which organises the event.

Bird counts are important exercises because the bird population, diversity in a spot says a lot about its ecology. Arvind Patole, a member of the Pune Wildlife Photographers' Group who is at Pashan Lake today, says that last year he had seen 57 species of birds on Big Bird Day. "This year when I went in February, I noticed 20% less species. The reason for this is declining water levels in the lake, which has led to the growth of hyacinths in the lake, declining oxygen levels and fewer fish. Villagers living nearby have cut trees on the banks, depriving birds of a perch. Whistling Ducks and Painted Stork, two birds which you could see easily earlier, have vanished," says Patole.

On the other hand, Jeganathan says that that birders spotted the Baya Weaver birds at the IIT Madras campus while in Tuticorin in February, they saw a few Amur Falcons, a bird that is arousing interest among scientists this year for the enormous distances it migrates from Mongolia to South Africa via Nagaland.

Anand Pendharkar, breaks of our phone conversation, in mid-sentence. "I just saw a spotted owl and wanted to take a photograph," he says when I ring back. Pendharkar, who runs an environment trust called Sprouts, says birding is an always-on activity. "You may be out on a walk, and never know what you see. In a single hour, you can see 30 species. Three years ago, I saw 108 species in 12 hours," he says. Pendharkar, who has been birding for 25 years and and conducts birding tours with children, lists some birding hotspots around the city.

Aarey Milk Colony
IIT Powai and the vicinity of the lake
Sanjay Gandhi National Park
Bhavans College
Vasai and Virar,

Tungareshwar
Sewri Wetlands
Karnala Bird Sanctuary

A few species to look out for:
Rosy starlings
Eagle
Swallows
Marsh harriers
Wagtails and Hoopoe
Warblers
Sandpipers

Guides:
It takes a lot of seeing, reading, and paying attention to recognise birds. There are a number of books available - Salim Ali's Book of Indian Birds, , being two of the better known. Online, there's Oriental Bird Images provides a handy and accessible tool to beginners and researchers.