Cams, binoculars out as birders set out on Nababarsha count
Times of India | 13 April 2025
123 Kolkata: The third edition of Poila Baisakh Bird Count kicked off in West Bengal on Saturday. A citizen science initiative by the Birdwatchers' Society (BWS) to celebrate nature during Bengali New Year, the event is also seen as an effort to record and observe presence of summer birds anywhere in Bengal.
"Poila Baisakh marks the start of the Bengali New Year and welcomes the onset of summer. To celebrate, BWS, in collaboration with Bird Count India, invites birdwatchers across Bengal to join this annual summer birding event. The 4-day event will go on till April 15," said Sujan Chatterjee of BWS.
"April is a fascinating time for birds in the region — many species are already singing and breeding, especially in the western and northern hills, while others are still on their way to northern breeding grounds. By participating in this count, one can help track both breeding birds and migrating species during this critical period. Over time, these summer birding records can provide insights into how climate change may be influencing migration patterns and breeding behaviour," said Kanad Baidya of BWS.
Elaborating on how to participate in the event, Chatterjee said: "One has to watch and count birds from anywhere in West Bengal for the 4 days of the event. Then, they will have to upload the checklists through the eBird (an online database where birdwatchers can share their sightings) mobile app. One has to ensure that each list is of at least 15-minute duration. In fact, if possible, birders should try to make lists that are exactly 15 minutes so that there is easy comparability between years. All lists should be complete checklists — a list of different bird species which occur within a specific area — with counts of all birds that one could identify by sight and/or sound to the best of their ability," added Chatterjee.
Focus is also being given on monitoring breeding behaviour of birds. This, according to a birder, is an important step to help fulfil one of the objectives of the counts — to monitor breeding activity over time. "More the number of checklists with breeding codes, better our understanding of the incidence of each breeding behaviour," he added.
In 2023, 176 birders recorded 544 species across 20 districts. Last year, 196 species were spotted only on day 1. Some sightings around this time of the year include that of Asian koel, common myna, spotted dove, red-vented bulbul, black drongo, common tailorbird, oriental magpie robin and white-throated kingfisher. One of the key sightings last year was that of chestnut-eared bunting — a winter migrant not commonly seen in Bengal — at Baruipur.