Tokhü Emong Bird Count (4- 7 Nov 2022)
Preliminary Report
Over the four days of the Tokhü Emong Bird Count (TEBC), 18 eBirders from Dimapur, Kohima, Peren and Wokha uploaded 84 checklists and recorded 178 species! Congratulations to everyone involved in the first edition of TEBC! Although TEBC is Nagaland’s festival, the bird count event was open to public across India. Around 33 checklists came from regions outside Nagaland––Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. A big thank you to all the birders outside Nagaland who participated in this event!
See below the day-to-day summary of the event.
Please note that this is just a Preliminary Report and the final report will be published in December 2022.
Collage of birders participating from various districts of Nagaland
Day-to-Day Summary of TEBC
Friday, 4 Nov: On the first day, 8 participants from three districts uploaded 29 checklists and reported a total of 72 species, including an interesting record of Brown Shrike. Seven species of warblers—Ashy-throated, Buff-barred, Yellow-browed, Dusky, Grey-cheeked, Greenish, Yellow-bellied Warbler were reported.
Saturday, 5 Nov: On the second day, 10 birders uploaded 23 checklists and documented 104 species—that’s 32 species more than on Day 1! This included Spot-breasted Parrotbill, three species of partridge—Hill, Rufous-throated, Mountain Bamboo-Partridge. Multiple raptors (that were not seen on Day 1) were seen this day—Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Himalayan Buzzard, Oriental Scops-Owl and of course Amur Falcon. Also reported were ten warbler species—Ashy-throated, Buff-barred, Yellow-browed, Greenish, Yellow-bellied, Whistler’s, Blyth’s Leaf, Grey-hooded, Brown Bush, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler.
Sunday, 6 Nov: Being a Sunday—also a church going day—only three birders could participate. They uploaded 22 checklists and recorded 90 species. It was a day of owls—birders recorded Asian Barred and Collared Owlet and three species of Scops-Owl—Mountain Scops-, Collared Scops– and Oriental Scops-Owl. Other than the usual species of warblers, babblers, scimitar-babblers and laughingthrushes were also recorded—Pin-striped Tit-, Golden, and Rufous-capped babblers; Red-billed, Streak-breasted, and White-browed scimitar-babblers; and Brown-capped, Blue-winged, Striped, Assam, Spot-breasted, and White-crested laughingthrushes.
Interestingly, only 4 of the 9 warbler species reported on Day 3 were also reported on Day 2! This is a high turnover of species that left everyone excited.
Monday, 7 Nov: On the final day of TEBC, seven birders uploaded 10 checklists and reported 86 species, including three individuals of Black-tailed Crake! Birders observed eight species of bulbul—Black-crested, Crested Finchbill, Striated, Red-vented, Red-whiskered, Flavescent, Himalayan Black, Mountain Bulbul; four species of thrush—Long-billed, Black-breasted, Eyebrowed, Blue Whistling-Thrush; and three species of wagtail—Grey, Eastern Yellow, White Wagtail.
The table below shows the names of eBirders who uploaded lists from Nagaland during TEBC 2022
| Name | |
| 1 | Chumremo Odyuo |
| 2 | Ethel Odyuo |
| 3 | Jayanta Manna |
| 4 | Kedovizo Richard |
| 5 | Ketholetuo Solo |
| 6 | Kevingulie Hiekha |
| 7 | Kumri Chirr |
| 8 | Kumri Khongphulih |
| 9 | Lansothung Lotha |
| 10 | Lokanath M |
| 11 | Onenjungshi Ao |
| 12 | Ramya Nair |
| 13 | Sahas Barve |
| 14 | Shekumcha Y |
| 15 | Tekameren Jamir |
| 16 | Tomal Gogoi |
| 17 | Vimento Ziekhru |
| 18 | Zuchanbeni Ezung |
Here is a collage of some of the species seen during TEBC 2022. See PDF for all species list.
This was the very first time for Nagaland to hold a bird documentation event which was organised by the Wokha Forest Division and the Divisional Management Unit, Nagaland Forest Management Project (NFMP), and Bird Count India. The idea of such an event was to get people interested in birds, create awareness and celebrate the rich bird diversity of the state. Events such as these when conducted every year can also help in generating a baseline data to compare the year after year trends of our birds.
We would like to thank all the participants, coordinators and personnels from the Department of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Nagaland, for this remarkable achievement! We would like to acknowledge all our organizers, coordinators, and contributors who carried out bird walks. Also, our sincere appreciation to all media houses who thoughtfully covered our event and helped in spreading the word through their platforms.
TEBC will return next year, with the hope of having more influx of birders and enthusiasts across Nagaland!
Banner Image: Birders participating in Tokhü Emong Bird Count. Credit: Lansothung Lotha
