Kolkata: The second edition of the two-day Poila Baisakh Bird Count in Bengal, that started on Saturday, has recorded over 300 species till Sunday afternoon.
On the first day, 65 birders reported sighting of 196 species, contributing to 165 checklists from 14 districts. The most commonly spotted birds included the Asian koel, common myna, spotted dove, red-vented bulbul, house crow, black drongo, common tailorbird, oriental magpie robin, jungle babbler, and the white-throated kingfisher.
An important sighting on Sunday — Day 2 of the exercise — was that of a chestnut-eared bunting from Baruipur. Kanad Baidya from the Birdwatchers’ Society said it’s a winter migrant that is not commonly seen in south Bengal.
Bird enthusiasts also observed some winter migrants like the black-winged stilt, pied avocet and pacific golden plover, which are currently on their return journey. Baidya explained that this count is crucial for monitoring the status of both breeding birds and the migratory species passing through the region.
At the end of first day, as per initial data uploaded on eBird — an online database for bird observations — 39, 30, 25 and 24 checklists were uploaded from North 24 Parganas, Kolkata, South 24 Parganas and Birbhum respectively.
This birdwatching event is a collaborative effort between the Birdwatchers’ Society and Bird Count India. The data collected from this exercise is valuable as it may reveal how climate change impacts the breeding cycles of birds. In 2023, as many as 176 birders recorded 544 species across 20 districts.
The participation is reportedly low this year due to the heat and upcoming first phase of polling in north Bengal.
Meanwhile, the final results of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) — conducted in Feb 2024 — are out. The exercise saw saw 5,334 e-Birders submit 58,276 checklists, documenting 1,036 species, which is 75% of the total number of species known to occur in India.
However, there was a slight 3% decrease in the number of species reported compared to the GBBC in 2023.
In Bengal, 543 species were recorded with over 2,223 checklists.