August 2019 eBirding Challenge

While some of our resident species are in their last phase of breeding (feeding their young), the juveniles of other birds such as Pied Bushchats, Black Drongos and White-eyed Buzzards have already transitioned being independent of their parents.

August is an exciting month for bird watchers from another perspective. The winter’s first migrants start arriving! Shanks and Sandpipers are already been reported from South India and in the North, Rosy Starling has made its appearance. A visit to a wetland, swamp or an overgrown seepage canal can surprise you with the booming calls of skulking Black Bitterns. If you find yourself near the grasslands of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, don’t miss out on the Lesser Floricans bouncing over the cover of tall grass or crop, sometimes up to 500 times in a single day.

This month’s eBird challenge for India involves exploring new places and documenting what’s around at this time of the year. The challenge for the month is to submit at least 20 eligible checklists of at least 15 min duration. Out of these 20 checklists, at least 2 should be from two eBird Hotspots where you have never birded before.

To explore the hotspots around you, take a look at the hotspot map and zoom in to where you are.

Please do choose the appropriate breeding code as some resident birds still continue to breed. You could make your checklists more interesting and valuable by adding media (photographs, videos, and audio) and comments on any interesting behaviour that you come across.

Please submit all your checklists by 10th of September so that the results can be announced soon after.

Do also look at the global eBird website for the global birding challenge of the month; and here in India, we also have a series of year-long challenges.

Important: if you are new to eBird, please read this description first, and do take a look at our quick-start infographic and also the more comprehensive Beginner’s Guide.

Banner image: Manoj Kumar Vittapu/ Macaulay Library  at the Cornell Lab