Post pandemic break, winter bird count back in Delhi-NCR to take stock of species

The voluntary annual exercise that assesses avifauna of the region was not held last year in the wake of Covid-19.

 NEW DELHI: The birding community of Delhi-NCR will come together on Sunday after two years to hold an early winter bird count across different wetlands of the region in a bid to assess species density and how well have the migrants have settled here.

The voluntary annual exercise that assesses avifauna of the region was not held last year in the wake of Covid-19. In 2019, during the last count, over 110 birders in 15 teams reported 256 species of both breeding residents and migrant terrestrial and water birds.

The coordinators of the event named ‘Delhi winter bird count’ said that this time, over 20 teams of size varying from five members to 29 members would be heading to different locations across the region.

“We are aiming at different areas of the region that include parts of Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida and other parts of Haryana as well. The aim is to count and assess the species density, which we further upload on e-bird. The main aim this year is to encourage birding, so we are accompanying several new birders this year,” said Pankaj Gupta, a Delhi-based birder.

He further pointed out that the event was “a count and not a census”. “We are not going with a grid map to count the numbers, rather we will be looking at the species diversity. This data will be useful in long terms, to assess when and how the diversity had been affected and what were the plausible parameters behind it,” he added.

According to Gurgaon-based birder K B Singh, the count also tries to find how well the winter migrants have started to arrive. “They are almost here in different habitats in Delhi and NCR. We can see a number of ducks, including Common Teal, Gadwalls, Northern Pintails, Pochard, Tufted Ducks. There is also good sighting of migratory raptors like Marsh Harrier and Peregrine Falcon, and the passage migrants like Hobby. The count will reveal better how well the diversity is spotted across different habitats of the region,” said Singh.

Recalling the previous event held in 2019, Noida-based birder Jaswinder Singh Waraich asserted his excitement of a notable sighting this year as well. “In 2019, Black eagle, Laggar falcon, Eurasian skylark, White-crowned penduline tit, Tawny eagle were among notable sightings,” said Singh.