Great Backyard Bird Count 2018––Stories from the Field

GBBC and CBC 2018 in Indore and other parts of  Madhya Pradesh

This year, the Campus Bird Count was conducted in 31 campuses across Madhya Pradesh. A brief report on the same is given below.

1. House sparrow was seen in only 03 campuses and count was also very low in Urban campuses.
2. Feral Pigeons were seen in huge numbers across all the campus that were surveyed confirming that it is the most prolific breeder and best adapted for the city campuses. It was followed by Black Kite.
3. Daly college campus which is more than 100 plus acre found to have highest diversity of birds in urban area. In 02 hrs of bird watching we were able to record 40 species.
4. Migratory birds have still not left the city. Migratory birds like the Rosy Starling, Black Sedstart, Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Wood Sandpiper, Cormorants, White Wagtails, etc were seen across the campuses.
5. Resident birds such as the Coppersmith Barbet, Asian Koel, Shikra and the Indian Grey Hornbills were heard often as their breeding season is approaching and they have been more vocal in these days.
6. The endangered Egyptian vulture was seen circling above from many campuses showing that this scavenger is still found across a large range.
7. Smallest bird found in India, the Pale-billed Flowerpecker, was seen at many city campuses.
8. Many members of the NGO “The Nature Volunteers” put a lot of effort to collect the data from so many campuses.
9. Two birders form M.P. ended up amongst the top 10 of the country in the number of checklists submitted.
10. White-bellied Woodpecker – possibly the first record from Madhya Pradesh – was documented in the Satpura ranges (Pachmarhi biosphere).

– Ajay Gadikar, birder from Indore