In many parts of the country, November was very wet, windy, and dreary! But December promises to be more sunny. The majority of our winter migrants have arrived and will spend the next few months fattening up before preparing for the long journeys back to their breeding grounds. This is peak birding season in India!
The eBird-India challenge for December is to post at least 40 lists and to augment them with media (photographs/ sound recordings). At least 5 out of the 40 lists should have 1 or more media. Each list should be no-X, complete checklists of at least 15 minutes duration.
You can upload either photographs or audio, but keep in mind the following things:
a. The media uploaded must be from the same time and location of the particular bird list.
b. The media uploaded should be of sufficient quality so that the species in question is identifiable.
c. Embedded media doesn’t get added to the Macaulay Library’s archive so lists with media embedded from third party sites (like Flickr) do not count for this challenge.
If you do not have good camera/audio recording equipment, don’t feel hindered! Even a point-and-shoot camera can take good record shots and you can get very good results even by taking images with your phone through a scope or binoculars. Phones are also very good devices for recording audio. So do give it a try!
Here are a few resources that can guide you on how to add photographs and sound recordings to your eBird lists.
- Adding sound recordings to your eBird checklist
- Adding photographs to your eBird checklist
- Using binoculars and a smartphone to take bird photographs
- Guide to uploading media in eBird
Please upload all your lists by 10 January 2022 so that we can announce the results soon after that.
Important: While birding, please ensure that you adhere to COVID-19 related instructions by central and local authorities.
Here are the general rules of our monthly challenges. And check out the yearlong challenges for 2021 as well! You can keep track of fresh lists coming in from India on this page.
Header Image: Yellow-eyed BabblerChrysomma sinense © Bhaarat Vyas/ Macaulay Library
