Indian Skimmer Count

Phase I: 04th – 05th January 2025

Let start this year with observing skimmers!

After the successful four years of the Indian Skimmer Count, Bombay Natural History Society in association with Bird Count India, announces the 5th coordinated global Indian Skimmer Count. The first phase will be conducted on 4th–5th January 2025. Like the previous four years, participants are encouraged to visit any of the short-listed sites or other potential sites of their choice where Indian Skimmers are likely to be recorded on the count dates.

This is an initiative to fill the knowledge gap about the Indian Skimmer population. For participating, please register using the form below:

https://forms.gle/PpoZaMap6hTSf1Er5

HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INDIAN SKIMMER COUNT 

• Visit any of the short-listed sites from here or any other sites of your choosing either on 04th January or 5th January, 2024 or both dates
• Count the total number of Indian Skimmers at the selected site and upload it through the eBird mobile app. Please see this PDF that provides a step-by-step procedure to upload your skimmer counts using the eBird Mobile app. Here is a help document that shows how to count skimmers.
• If possible, undertake a careful count of juveniles, immatures, and adults. See here for understanding age classification. To learn about how to edit and add additional information in your checklists, see here
• See here to learn about how to add photos and call recordings to your eBird checklist.
• We encourage participants to contribute their observations/data through eBird platform. However, participants can also use google forms OR MS word fill-in datasheet to contribute their observations. Email the MS word filled datasheet to [email protected] . Details on how to use the data-sheet can be seen here
• If you are not comfortable using the app, then upload your sightings through ebird.org and also share your checklist with the user ID: Indian Skimmer or email ID [email protected] Refer to this article on how to share a checklist.
• More details for conducting the count will be shared with the registered participants.

Additional Resources:

Using eBird App (English)
Using eBird app (Hindi)
Counting Birds (Webinar)

For any queries and clarifications, please contact:

Ms. Parveen Shaikh
Coordinator- Indian Skimmer Count

Bombay Natural History Society,
Hornbill House, Opp. Lion Gate, S.B. Singh Road,
Mumbai-400 001, India.
Phone No: -+91-22-20421811 (Office)

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.bnhs.org

Header Image: Flock of Indian Skimmer Rynchopsalbicollis by Srikanth Mannepuri