January 2022 eBirding Challenge

As we approach the new month of 2022, it’s time to start a new eBirding challenge! Just like every year, January is dedicated to the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC). Birders from all across India (and Asia!) will be visiting several wetlands to document the birds as well as the state of the wetlands that harbor them.

To contribute to the national effort towards the AWC, the challenge for this month is to upload eligible checklists of a minimum of 15 minutes from at least 3 different wetlands. Each list should be no-X, complete checklists of at least 15 minutes duration. In addition to uploading to eBird, please also fill in the AWC India eBird 2022 Wetland Assessment Form, and importantly, ‘share’ your checklist with the eBird username: awcindia (see video here).

General guidelines:

• Please count (not just list) all the species that you see and hear, while visiting wetlands.
• All lists uploaded from wetlands should be of at least 15 minutes or more, complete lists with no X’s.
• In addition to uploading lists from wetlands, it is important to fill the AWC India eBird 2022 Wetland Assessment Form. 
• Ensure that the list is shared among all who were present with you, along with the username awcindia
• If a wetland is not an eBird Hotspot then please add appropriate terms that make it obvious that it is a wetland. For example, you can use terms like  Pond, Lake, Beach, River, Dam, Reservoir, Canal, Jheel, Kere, etc
• Do consider filling AWC India eBird 2022 Wetland Assessment Form for each list that you upload from any wetland
• For best accuracy, take care to avoid double-counting the same birds. Here is a webinar recording on how to count birds in large flocks.

Important: While birding, please ensure that you adhere to COVID-19 related instructions by central and local authorities

What is a wetland?

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

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 needs to 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 for the AWC are 1 – 16 January 2022, however, counts from any dates in January and February are welcomed.

Please upload all your lists (and fill out the google form) by 10 February 2022 so that we can announce the results soon after that. And check out the yearlong challenges for 2022 (coming soon) as well! You can keep track of fresh lists coming in from India on this page.

A list of challenges at the global level can be seen here. The global eBirding challenge of the month can be seen here.

Header Image: Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana © Gopalakrishna R/ Macaulay Library