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Great Backyard Bird Count Results

Summary

The 10th edition of GBBC India was a rousing success! Last year when 952 species were recorded Indian birders had set themselves a challenge to reach the unprecedented mark of 1000. And what a way to reach that goal! Between 18 to 21 February 2022, 3,782 birders uploaded 41,694 checklists and recorded an impressive 1,017 species— 75% of the total number of species known to occur in the country! In comparison to GBBC 2021, this year India had almost 800 (28%) more birders from 12% more districts in the event. A big thank you to all state coordinators and to everyone who organised bird walks, and talks on campuses and elsewhere in the country. We are grateful to all data quality reviewers who reviewed all observations in such a short span of time.

The total number of checklists presented in this summary may vary from the global results as some checklists containing 0 species have not been included here. If any of you have 0 species-15 minutes-complete lists made during GBBC 2022, then please email at [email protected]

GBBC Global

In 2020 and 2021, India ranked third behind the United States and Canada in terms of checklists uploaded. However, this year India took the second position behind United States.

In terms of the number of species reported, last year India ranked second but this year it ranked third behind Columbia and Ecuador.

Numbers may change slightly as final checklists are added and validated by our reviewers

GBBC India

Usually, South Indian states have seen the most number of checklists in past GBBC events. This year was no different. But it is remarkable to see states from North and Northeast India showing a lot of enthusiasm to document the bird life in their states. Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh saw some of the biggest jumps in participation. You can clearly notice this from coverage maps for both years.

Here, each list contributed to GBBC is shown as a translucent circle. Deeper yellow indicates overlapping circles, which signals more lists from that location.

GBBC India 2022 Coverage

GBBC India 2021 Coverage

The top five states in terms of checklists were Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Just like the last few years Salem district in Tamil Nadu alone uploaded over 8,000 checklists during this GBBC!

Top 5 states that uploaded over 2000 checklists!

Top 15 districts in terms of lists uploaded

Top 10 states in terms of species recorded

The number of species shown may differ from that used for analysis.

Highlights from GBBC 2022!

Every year, GBBC in India has seen tremendous growth–more and more new regions step up to participate thus spreading the joy of birding. This year, the following states have shown an astounding increase in the number of lists uploaded.

North-east India in the Spotlight!

Thanks to all the birders in North-east India for showing an amazing level of coordination during this GBBC. An amazing feat achieved by birders in Tripura who uploaded 379 lists- a remarkable growth from just 5 lists in 2021! Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Meghalaya too showed an increase from last year.
A special mention to the birders of Mizoram who uploaded 66 checklists this year compared to 0 last year!

How did some of the other states do? 

Other states that showed an increase were: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, and Bihar. Gujarat from 699 lists in 2021 jumped to 3011 and Rajasthan from 349 to 2419! From the alpine Ladakh to the verdant islands of Andaman and Nicobar, birders participated in droves; Ladakh went from 121 lists in 2021 to 392 this year and Andaman & Nicobar islands showed over 200% increase with 361 lists.

A special mention to the birders of Jharkhand who participated in numbers and uploaded 142 checklists this year compared to 19 last year!

The state and district-level coverage of GBBC 2022 based on checklists are shown below. To view the summary (number of checklists, participants, species), please click on a state/ district in these zoomable maps.

GBBC 2022 State coverage

GBBC 2022 District coverage

P.S. The above maps are best viewed on a computer.

Top birders in each state, in terms of the number of 15 mins checklists uploaded

Top 30 birders in India in terms of the number of 15 mins checklists uploaded

Let’s have a big round of applause for Angeline Mano for uploading 384 lists! 

Thanks to Dipak Sinha (Tripura), Arpan Saha (Tripura), Parthasarathi Chakrabarti (Tripura), Sushil Kumar (Jharkhand), Rishabh Lohia (Jharkhand), Lansothung Lotha (Nagaland), Biang Syiem (Meghalaya), Duwaki Rangad (Meghalaya), Amit Bal (Mizoram), Ramnarayan K (Uttarakhand), Malyasri Bhattacharya (Himachal Pradesh), Ashok Agarwal (Chhattisgarh), Pallavi Arora (Uttar Pradesh), Rozan Dhungel (Sikkim), and many more birders who played a pivotal role in improving their regions’ participation in GBBC.

Special thanks to Puja Sharma, Kaushik Sarkar, Sahil Nijhawan, Tarun Menon, Praveen J, Ramthansiama Chawngthu, Amit Bal and others for helping with contacts of birders in Northeast India!

A shoutout to the Foundation for Ecological Society (FES), Wildlife Conservation and Birds Club of Ladakh, Andaman Avians Club (A & N Islands only Birding Club), Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Thanamir Birding Team, Salem Ornithological Foundation (SOF), Oorna Nature Club and all the other groups for their wonderful efforts in planning, coordinating and participating in this event.

What are the most common species in India?

In 2021, Common Myna was the most common species reported in all regions except the West. However, this year along with the West it did not make it to the top 5 most common species in Andaman & Nicobar Islands either. Last year, Red-vented Bulbul was the second most common species in five out of seven regions. However, this time it’s in the top 5 only in three regions.

Some interesting trends were seen when comparing the 2021 and 2022 GBBC

The Himalayas: This region continues to report the same set of species since 2020 with minor changes in reporting frequency.

North: This year Black Kite wrestled its top 5 spot from Red-vented Bulbul after the bulbul had done the same in 2021.

East: Just like in the North, a species that lost its top 5 spot in 2021 regained its position – Black Drongo returns in the top 5 displacing Asian Pied Starling.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands: History repeats itself! Exactly like 2021, this year too the islands have a whopping four new species in the top 5 in 2022. What is more, these are a completely new set of species compared to last year! These are Andaman Coucal, Red-whiskered Bulbul, White-throated Kingfisher, and Brown Shrike.

South: House Crow, Common Myna, and Black Drongo continued as the top 3 but Rose-ringed Parakeet and Red-vented Bulbul were replaced Feral Pigeon and Large-billed Crow were replaced by White-throated Kingfisher and Indian Pond Heron.

Central: The same species from last year remained on the list except for Green Bee-eater which was knocked out by Rose-ringed Parakeet.

West: The same species from last year remained on the list except for Black Drongo which was replaced by Purple Sunbird. Red-wattled Lapwing continues to be an abundant species in this region compared to the rest of the country.

The map shown below illustrates the 5 most common species in terms of their frequency of reporting, in seven broad regions in India.

Campus Bird Count Results

The Campus Bird Count runs alongside GBBC in India, to record the birdlife in the multiple campuses across India and to promote birdwatching within institutions. Campuses include educational and training institutions, government institutions, research stations, corporate campuses, and so on. This year, a total of 172 campuses across India participated in the Campus Bird Count, uploading a total of 8,138 unique checklists.

CBC 2022

Top 15 campuses in terms of more than 100 unique checklists uploaded

Top 15 campuses in terms of species reported

Further Information

GBBC 2022 was coordinated by Bird Count India and its various partners. For more information, see the following links.

• • GBBC 2022: Stories from the field

• GBBC/ CBC in the News
• GBBC 2021 associated events (bird walks and talks)
• List of registered campuses
• GBBC Global
• GBBC 2022 in India

Bird Monitoring in India

• Visit the Bird Count India website
• Join the Facebook group

Contact Bird Count India at [email protected]

What Next?

GBBC will be back on 17-20 Feb 2023

In the meantime, keep eBirding and monitoring birds!

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Banner Image is by Irshad Theba