Pongal Bird Count

The Pongal Bird Count (PBC), an initiative of the Tamilbirds network, is an annual bird monitoring programme for the state of Tamil Nadu. The idea is to go out and count birds during the Pongal festival, to get more people interested in birding, and to generate a yearly snapshot of the bird population in Tamil Nadu. The first Pongal Bird Count was conducted in January 2015.

WHEN

15- 18 Jan 2023

WHERE

Anywhere in Tamil Nadu

HOW

Watch and count birds from anywhere you are in Tamil Nadu for 4 days, from 15 to 18 January 2023, and upload it to eBird.org/india.

Upload as many 15 minute lists into eBird (ebird.org/india).  Each list should be a complete list with counts of all birds that you could identify by sight and/ or sound to the best of your ability.

Resources:

If you are a birdwatcher who has not tried eBird or have birdwatcher friends who are not using eBird, please use these slides as an introduction: (in English | in Tamil – PDF, JPEG)

If you want to introduce birds to new people, you can share this Youtube Video (in Tamil)

Here is a Bilingual Pictorial Guide  on some Common Birds of Tamil Nadu-A (PDF, JPEG)

Download event flyers from here (English) and here (Tamil)

Please upload all your lists before 10 Feb 2023.

If you have any questions, please do email at [email protected]

Click here to see results of previous Pongal Bird Counts