Good news! National count of winged beauties to be revived

Bengaluru: The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has announced the revival of annual bird count which is conducted nationwide during the birthday celebrations of late Dr Salim Ali. Known as Pitamaha of Indian ornithology Dr Salim Ali has traveled most of the important birding destinations and even today the bird watching community in India follows the footsteps of Dr Ali.

On Sunday, the bird watchers across the country will observe birds to arrive at a total figure of birds. Even Bengaluru’s bird watchers are gearing up for the bird count. They are planning their bird watching trips in Ramanagara, Bannerghatta, Nandi Hills, Kanakapura and other places, besides the green places in city like Lalbagh Botanical Garden and Cubbon Park.

“This is a great opportunity to introduce your family and friends to the wonderful world of birds. This is a single-day event to commemorate the birthday of the ‘Bird man of India’, late Dr. Salim Ali. Birdwatchers are invited to participate in this event by watching birds wherever they like for at least 15 minutes, and preferably over an hour. The complete lists of all species seen (ideally with counts of individuals) may be submitted on eBird(www.ebird.org/india) from where BNHS will download, analyse and circulate the findings,” said a member of BNHS.

“We also encourage birdwatchers to use this opportunity to visit Important Bird Areas (IBAs) or other key habitats and sites near them. One can visit multiple locations during the day. If you visit the same locations every year on, the Salim Ali Bird Count becomes a means for monitoring the status of birds and their habitats. Bird and natural history groups could also use this occasion to organise other events to popularise bird-watching among the general public. A compiled report of the Bird Count will be released by BNHS soon after the event. The Salim Ali Bird Count is organised by the BNHS in partnership with Bird Count India, a collective of many organisations and groups across the country working towards documenting and monitoring birds,” the member added.