January 2019 eBirding Challenge

Welcome to 2019! As is the case every year, January is the month of the Asian Waterbird Census. Since 1987, birders have been going out to wetlands of all types across the country (and all of Asia!) to document bird populations as well as the state of wetlands which harbour these birds. Initiatives such as these contribute greatly to the documentation and continued monitoring efforts of our wetland birds and their habitats.

Find out more about the AWC here: https://birdcount.in/events/awc/

The challenge this month is to contribute to the national effort towards the AWC. To do this, upload an effort-based, complete checklist of a minimum of 15 minutes from at least 3 different wetlands (which can be rivers, lakes, reservoirs, tanks, swamps, coastal sites, mangrove and mudflats, reefs, sandy beaches, etc). The 15 min guideline is only a minimum: you should ideally take as much time as is needed to cover the wetland in total.

This month, uploading to eBird is not enough; please also fill in the AWC Site Information Form and importantly, share your checklist with the eBird username: awcindia.

What is a wetland?

See this link for how AWC defines a wetland: https://south-asia.wetlands.org/wetlands/what-are-wetlands/

Reference list of wetlands AWC recommends covering: Google Spreadsheet

Wetlands can include rivers, lakes, reservoirs, tanks, swamps, coastal sites, mangrove and mudflats, reefs, sandy beaches, etc.

Please note that all users shared on the list(s) contributed to the AWC Site Information Form will also be eligible for the challenge. In other words, if a group of three people counts birds at a wetland, only one need upload his/her list to the AWC Site Information Form. But please ensure that the list is shared among all who were present, along with the username awcindia. The recommended dates are 5-20 January, but counts from any date in the month are eligible for the challenge.

Please upload all your lists (and fill out the google form) by 14 February 2019 so that we can announce the results on the 16th. Here are the general rules of our monthly challenges. And check out the yearlong challenges for 2019 as well! You can keep track of fresh lists coming in from India at this page.

Important. if you are new to eBird, please read this description first, and do take a look at our quick-start infographic and also the more comprehensive Beginner’s Guide.

Header Image: Waterfowl and Flamingo at the Basai Wetlands by Anil T/ML Library at the Cornell Lab