Poila Baisakh Bird Count

“Poila Baisakh” is a festival that celebrates the first day of the Bengali New Year, and marks the onset of summer. Celebrate Poila Baisakh by participating in the Poila Baisakh Bird Count, an annual ‘summer’ event in West Bengal’s birding calendar!

April is an interesting time for birds in the region – many are already singing and breeding, particularly in the Western and Northern hills – but many others are still moving through towards more northerly breeding grounds. A count during this crucial period across the state can help monitor the status of breeding birds as well as the status of migrants moving through. Over time, these snapshots during summer can inform us about impacts of climate change on migration and breeding phenology. This is the second edition of Poila Baisakh Bird Count organised by the Birdwatchers Society of West Bengal in association with Bird Count India.

How to participate in the Poila Baisakh Bird Count?

• Watch and count birds from anywhere in West Bengal for the 2 days of the event- 13-14 April 2024
• Upload your checklists through the eBird Mobile App
• Ensure that each list is of at least 15 minutes duration
• In fact, if possible, try to make lists that are exactly 15 minutes so that there is easy comparability between years
• All lists should be complete checklists with counts of all birds that you could identify by sight and/or sound to the best of your ability

Monitoring breeding (IMPORTANT)

Report Breeding Codes on eBird! This is an important step to help fulfill 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.

Whenever you see birds showing any signs of breeding, select the appropriate breeding behaviour code. To do this in the eBird App, tap the species name, tap on ‘Add breeding code‘, and select the appropriate purple circle that is closest to your observation (see the example below).

Please note, F (Flyover) and H (Appropriate Habitat) are not breeding codes. Avoid use of H completely. Note that every observation does not require a breeding code!

Watch this webinar to better understand how to use breeding codes.

General Instructions

Visit multiple habitats from the various different regions in the state. Avoid using ‘X’ in your checklists and attempt to arrive at a number each time. Multiple checklists from the same site are also encouraged.

For further queries, email: [email protected]

Happy Poila Baisakh birding!

Please upload all your lists by 30 April 2024