Himalayan Bird Count 2025—Final Results

Congratulations to everyone involved in the very successful Himalayan Bird Count! A special shout out to all those who took this opportunity to conduct public bird walks and introduce new people to the wonders of birds and nature!

Scroll down to see the results from this single-day birding event. This final report provides an overview of HBC 2025 that took place on 10 May, 2025, highlighting participation, key findings, and notable changes.

Women birders take the lead in Ladakh during the Himalayan Bird Count 2025. Photo by Padma Gyatso

This year, an impressive 431 eBirders from India, Nepal, and Bhutan came together and uploaded 1,200 checklists, documenting an astounding 642 species! Participants represented almost every Himalayan region in the three participating countries.

Special recognition goes to the following 273 birders who uploaded checklists that were 15 minutes or longer.

Aarati Nepali, Aashish Pokhrel, Adhirup Ghosh, Adi Gurung, Ahmad Faiz Mustafa, Ahmed Omar Haroon, Akash Gurung, Alan Lam, Alok Badkul, Aman Mahajan, Aman Sunar, Amandeep Singh Channa, Amar Mehta, Amitava Basu, Amsis Panta, Anand Chaudhary, Anand Singh, Ananda Shrestha, Anassaya Deesuk , Anil Thakur, Anish Timsina, Anjali Krishna, Anjan Kumar Das, Anju Dhakal, Ankit Das, Ankit Joshi, Anuj Saikia, Anusree Datta, Aravi Muzaffar, Arijit Sen, Arun Sarkar, Aryapratim Sarkhel, Aseem Borkar, Ashish Pariyar, Asim Giri, Atree Siang, Avian Trips, Babloo Farswan, Balwant Negi, Baseer Baniya, Bheri Kumar, Binit Timalsina, Birkha Bdr Mongar, Bishnu Thapa, Bob Watts, Brian Cox, Chandan Goswami, Chandramouli Ganguly, Charlie Bostwick, Choldan Gasha, Chris Bowden, Cree Panta, Dambar Kumar Pradhan, Debanjan Chamlagain, Deep Corbett, Deepak Budhathoki Ðÿ¦‰, Deepak Sheshadri, Deepakgarg Sharma, Deo Man Rai, Deu Bahadur Rana, Devansh Mishra, Dilip C Gupta, Dinesh Negi, Dinesh Sharma, Divyanshu Chand, Dk Marry, Dombe Pradhan, Dorjee Bachung, Dorjey Daya, Dr George P J, Durga Prasad Timilsina, E Mahiban Ross, English Brooks, Ganesh R Mandavkar, Ganeshkumar Ynv, Gangaraj Sunuwar, Garry Bhatti, Gopi Shrestha, Gurdip Boparai, Guruvesh Durgoli, Gyeltshen Gyeltshen, Hardeep Gazdar , Harish Dobhal, Harish Pujari, Harpal Singh, Hemanta Dhakal, Hira Malla, Hirulal Dangaura, Ian Oneill, Indra Acharja, Iqbal Ali Khan, Jaime Colman, Jalmesh Karapurkar, Jawad Ali, Jaya N Bhandari, Jayant Phulkar, Jeevan Patyal , Jenny Johny Soloman Samuel, Jenny Riley, Jigme Tshering, Jyoti Sharma, K D Kargeti, Kamal Gosai, Kamal Kumar, Kannan As, Karma Jamtsho, Kartik S Mrityunjaya Chauhan, Kavinder Kumar, Kayzad Kasad, Keshar Singh, Kezang Dorji, Khadananda Paudel, Khandu Tshomo, Kinlay Dorji, Kiran Bisht, Kiran Gosai, Krishna Bhusal, Krishna Thapa , Kundan Kumar, Kuntal Roy, Kushankur Bhattacharyya, Kusum Fernando, Lakpa Tenzing Sherpa, Lalitha Krishnan, Lihini Rangalle, Lobsang Tsering, Mahesh K, Mahesh Tharu, Malyasri Bhattacharya, Manash Pratim, Manjiri Mahajan, Manoj Kumar, Manshanta Ghimire, Mark O’Brien, Megha Rai, Micah Rai, Millo Tako, Mitra Pandey, Mohammad Ishaq Lone, Mohan Pandey, Mrigender Joshi, Mukesh Kandpal, Muralidharan S, Nabaraj Pokharel, Narender Khaira, Nature Boy, Naveen Kumar Mk, Neha Chaudhary, Neil Bostock, Nijam Pokhrel, Nikeet Pradhan, Nisha Bhakat, Nishan Baral, Nitin Kumar Raghav, Noopur Sahasrabudhe, Padma Gyalpo, Padma Gyatso, Padma Ishey, Parmil Kumar, Paul Washburn, Phurpa Tsering, Piklu Das, Pooran Joshi, Prabin Gautam, Prabit Tamang, Pranav Gokhale, Prashant Kumar, Prashant Negi, Pratap Gurung, Pratiksha Kothule, Prem Thapa, Prem Raj Dahal, Rabin Gautam, Rahul Baruah, Rajeev Bisht, Rajendra Koranga, Rajesh Azad, Rajesh Panwar, Raju Pushola, Rakesh Belwal, Ram Krishna Mahato, Rana Mukherjee, Rasila Tiwari, Ravi Kanav, Ravi Mekola, Richard Dunn, Rick Karan Toor, Rigzin Norboo, Rima Dhillon, Rinchen Tshewang, Ritesh Kaul, Rofikul Islam, Rohan Tuladhar, Rojin Maharjan, Ronith Urs, Roozbeh Gazdar, Rotem Avisar, Rozan Dhungel, Saddam Husain, Sahil Miya, Sakshi, Sameer Duraphe, Samyak Deo, Samyam Rumba, Sangam Paudel, Sanjay Sondhi, Sanjay Tha Shrestha, Sanjiv Ray, Sanju Boro, Santosh Kumar Thakur, Sarabjeet Kaur, Sarbani Chatterjee, Sarbjeet Kaur, Satrajit Bhattacharya, Saurabh Chandra, Senan D’Souza, Sewangi Sewangi, Shakti – Tribesmen.In, Shalini Chouhan, Shambhu Bhattarai, Shankar Tiwari, Sheikh Haris, Sheikh Maleen, Shekhar Soun, Shilpita Mandal, Shirish Maharjan, Shiwank Negi, Shubham Dhanavade, Shubham Khatana, Shuvam Maharjan, Sidharth Srinivasan, Sirish Kumar, Sitaram Mahato, Som Mandal, Sonam Dawa, Sonam Phuntsho, Sonam Angmo, Sonam Otzer, Sonam Phuntsho, Sourashis Mukhopadhyay, Souvick Mukherjee, Sri Srikumar, Srinivas Daripineni, Stephan Lorenz, Subramaniasivam Sundaram, Suman Dasgupta, Sunil Kini, Sunil Singh Bhandari, Sunita Khatiwara, Suraj Bhatia, Suraj Khulal, Suraj Rai, Surajit Sarkar, Tannu Saini, Tarun Menon, Tashi Tshering, Thinley Wangchuk, Tisha Mukherjee, Tony Stones, Toto Hazarika, Tshering Tobgay, Ugyen Choda, Umar Khan, Umesh Chhangani, Urgyan Dorjey, Vaibhav Tomar, Veena Sheshadri, Vijai Arun Sekar Sreenivasan Jayalakshmi, Vijaya Rani, Vivek Rawat, Warwick Board, Yolisa Yobin, Yubin Shrestha.

The above list does not include group accounts and those with no identifiable names.

Key Takeaways

• 17% growth in participation
• 642 species recorded
• Nepal’s participation nearly doubled
• Bhutan showed steady growth

An impressive diversity of 642 species was recorded, with many species at their peak of the breeding season and singing away. You can view the full list of species here.

This year’s HBC saw encouraging growth in participation from Nepal and Bhutan, with Nepal’s participant numbers nearly doubling from 62 to 110, and Bhutan also seeing a rise from 42 to 58 participants. (See Table 1 below)

While India maintained its participant strength at 264, there was a noticeable drop in both species recorded and total checklists submitted compared to last year.

These numbers highlight the growing enthusiasm for birding in Nepal and Bhutan, while also reminding us of the need to sustain and boost engagement in India.

Table 1: Detailed breakdown of participation and results across the three countries, with 2024 figures in brackets for comparison. Percentages for each metric (participants, species, checklists) are calculated as a proportion of the total across all three countries.

Table 2: Top contributors from India, Nepal, and Bhutan, specifically those who submitted more than 5 checklists

Bhutan

58 birdwatchers in Bhutan  101 checklists from 19 provinces. 

Table 7: No. of participants in participants in states/ provinces in Bhutan

India

In the Himalayan regions of India, 264 birdwatchers from 7 states and union territories participated in this event.

Table 4: No. of participants in states/ ut’s in India. West Bengal’s contribution comes from its four Himalayan districts: Alipurduar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Kalimpong.

Nepal

110 birdwatchers in Nepal recorded 397 species in 429 checklists!

Table 6: No. of participants in states/ provinces in Nepal

Each checklist uploaded during HBC 2025 is represented as a translucent circle on the map below. Areas with overlapping circles appear in deeper yellow, indicating locations with a higher number of checklists.

Fig 1: Map showing eBird checklist submissions from India, Nepal, and Bhutan 

The country, state/union territory, and district-level coverage for HBC 2025, based on checklists uploaded in eBird, are shown  below in the form of HTML maps (See Fig 2 & 3). To view a summary of the number of checklists, participants, and species, simply click on a country, state, or district in these interactive, zoomable maps.

Disclaimer: Each HTML file is approximately 11 MB. Please be mindful of data usage when downloading, especially on mobile devices. For the best experience, view these maps on a computer.

Fig 2: HBC 2025 State/UT coverage. To see the HBC summary for any state/ province, zoom in and click on the specific region.

Fig 3: HBC 2025 District coverage. To see the HBC summary for any region, zoom in and click on the specific region.

What were the common species reported?

There have been some interesting shifts in the most frequently reported species across regions during this year’s Himalayan Bird Count.

In the Western Region, last year Himalayan Bulbul dominated the lists, but this year it didn’t feature among the top five. Instead, Feral Pigeon emerged as the most frequently reported species. Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler and Great Barbet, both were also strong contenders — neither of which featured prominently last year. Meanwhile, Common Myna continued to maintain a steady presence in the top five, though with a slightly lower reporting frequency (29%) compared to its showing in other regions.

Over in the Central Region, there was more consistency. Red-vented Bulbul, common last year, once again shared the top spot in a tie with Himalayan Bulbul that was absent from last year’s top 5. Common Myna and Spotted Dove both continued their streak, holding steady in the top five. Asian Koel, known for its distinct monsoon calls, featured in the top five both this year and last.

In the Eastern Region too, the trends were largely consistent, with one noticeable change — Lesser Cuckoo, which featured in last year’s top five, was replaced by Green-backed Tit this year. Another interesting shift was seen with Verditer Flycatcher. While it held the position of the most frequently reported species last year, it moved down to fifth place this time, due to the change in its reporting frequency.

How was Himalayan Bird Count 2025 compare to the previous year?

The overall participation in HBC 2025 saw a 17% increase, with 431 birders contributing compared to 368 last year.

While the total number of checklists uploaded also saw a slight rise, species recorded remained almost steady, with a marginal dip of 0.3% .

The growing enthusiasm from Nepal and Bhutan is encouraging, but the dip in India’s participation serves as a reminder that we need to step up efforts to keep the birding momentum going here.

Stay Connected with Birds, Nature and Each Other

• The next HBC will be on 09 May, 2026.
• If you want to start your birdwatching journey or show others the joy of birding, there’s no need to wait until the next HBC! You can start birding right away and upload your checklists to eBird. First, download these two important free apps: the Merlin Bird ID App and the eBird App. You can find ‘How to’ videos and webinars on Bird Count India’s YouTube channel.
• If you are new to birds and nature, consider subscribing to The Flock!
• For more information, you could also contact our Regional Coordinators listed here.
• To stay up-to-date with birding events across the country, bookmark this page: birdalliance.in.
• If you conduct regular bird or nature walks, please let us know so that we can list them here.

Photo in the banner image: Padma Gyatso, Koj Mama, Krishna Bhusal, and Tshering Tobgay.