Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! 
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.
For January, the challenge is to upload at least 20 eligible lists or more. From the set of 20 lists, at least two should be from two different wetlands.
Important:
- Each list should be of minimum 15 minutes
- To qualify for the challenge, please mention the word ‘wetland‘ in your eBird checklist comments
- In addition to uploading to eBird, please also fill in the AWC India eBird 2023 Wetland Assessment Form, and importantly, share your checklist with the eBird username: awcindia
General guidelines:
- Please count (not just list) all the species that you see and hear, while visiting wetlands.
- 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
- 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.
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.
Please upload all your lists (and fill out the google form) by 10 February 2023 so that we can announce the results soon after that.
The global eBird challenge for January can be seen here. And check out the yearlong challenge for 2023 as well! You can keep track of fresh lists coming in from India on this page.
While birding, please ensure that you adhere to COVID-19 related instructions by central and local authorities
Header Image: Pallas’s Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus © Dibyendu Ash/ Macaulay Library
