Wildlife Week 2019

Spread the love of birds this Wildlife Week (2-8 October 2019) by introducing new audiences to the wonderful world of birds. You could give a talk about birds, play bird games, conduct a quiz — so many possibilities! See here for a variety of resources you can use.

But don’t forget to take people out to a lake or park to show them real birds too. If you are planning a bird walk, Early Bird will be happy to support you by publicizing your event and providing you with 10 complimentary copies of our region-specific pocket guides. Note added on 1 Oct 2019: Please continue to list your events. However, we will use our discretion in sending you materials as they may not reach in time for your event.

Please fill this form to tell people about your event!

Registered events are  listed below. Completed events are in grey font colour.

Delhi

• Yamuna River Front
  6 Oct 2019, 07:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Amaltas, [email protected], +919811410095.
  Instructions: Contact over WhatsApp.

Karnataka

• Bengaluru–Pride Vatika, Koppa Gate, Off Bannerghatta Road
  5 Oct 2019, 07:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Chandu Bandi, [email protected], 9880021437
  Instructions: Meeting at Club house
  
• Bengaluru–Good Earth Malhar, off Mysore Road
  6 Oct 2019, 06:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Abhisheka K Gopal, [email protected], 9880612474
  Instructions: Assemble at the Old Good Earth office/ Malhar-Footprints junction. Bring kids along too. Carry notebook & pen, water bottle, umbrella, binoculars (if you have)
• Bengaluru–Jakkur Lake
  2 Oct 2019, 07:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Subhadra Devi, [email protected], 7353592716.
  Instructions: Bring kids along.
• Bengaluru–Kaikondrahalli Lake
  2 Oct 2019, 07:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Chandu Bandi, [email protected], 9880021437.
  Instructions: Assemble at the bridge near the entry gate (Opposite Anand Sweets).

Kerala

• Ernakulam–Kadamakudy
  4 Oct 2019, 07:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Premchand R, [email protected], 09895348813.
  Instructions: Carry Binoculars if you have.
• Kasaragod–Kajampady
  2 Oct 2019, 15:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor – Talk.
  Contact: Maxim Rodrigues K, [email protected], 9656319790.
• Kumbla
  7 Oct 2019, 16:00 hrs. Bird walk, talk, games, quiz.
  Contact: Raju Kidoor, [email protected], 9961643151.
  Instructions: Come with a book and a pen.
• Kuthuparamba
  7 Oct 2019, 10:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Jishnu Divakar, [email protected], 9446577030
  Instructions: Will direct participants as per the birding rules
• Kollam–Polachira
  5 Oct 2019, 06:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Dr Jishnu R, [email protected], 9447150300.
  Instructions: Bring bino /camera; carry drinking water.
• Palakkad–NSS College Ottapalam
  1 Oct 2019, 08:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Preethi N, [email protected], 09846300635.
  Instructions: Need to take a binocular, a notepad and a pen.
• Palakkad–Palappuram
  3 Oct 2019, 08:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Preethi [email protected], 9846300635
• Palakkad–Parudur
  7 Oct 2019, 07:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Smitha C K, [email protected], 9747170556
  Instructions: Basic bird watching walk with school students
• Kanhangad–Peralath vayal
  4 Oct 2019, 08:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor- Games/interactive session
  Contact: Shyamkumar P, [email protected], 989 540 4502
  Instructions: Pls carry your binoculars, note books and pencil, pen
• Thrissur–Kerala Agricultural University Main Campus
  5 Oct 2019, 06:30 hrs.  Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Niranjana C, [email protected], 9496312868
• Trivandrum
  6 Oct 2019, 10:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Rahul R., [email protected], 9495133916
  Instructions: Will direct participants with the nirms of nature
• Mankada, Malappuram–Kodikuthimala
  5 Oct 2019, 06:30 hrs.  Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Pramod P,  [email protected], 8078226412
  Instructions: 88 participants booked
• Kadamakkudy– Kochi
  4 Oct 2019, 07:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Premchand, 9895348813

Madhya Pradesh

• Indore–Forest Complex, Navratan Bagh
  3 Oct 2019, 08:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Ajay Gadikar, [email protected], 9302102821
  Instructions: Please bring binoculars
• Indore–Sirpur lake
  4 Oct 2019, 08:00 hrs, Outdoor – Bird walk
  Contact: Ajay Gadikar, [email protected], 9302102821
  Instructions: Please bring Binoculars
• Mhow, near Indore–Bad Gonda Forest Nursery
  2 Oct 2019, 08:30 hrs. Outdooor- Bird walk
  Contact: Wildlife & Nature Conservancy, [email protected], 7489277070
  Instructions: Please carry binoculars

Maharashtra

• Ahmednagar–Salabat Khan’s Tomb (Chandbibi Mahal)
  6 Oct 2019, 07:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Ajinkya Supekar (Ahmednagar Birding Pals), [email protected], 9028027503.
  Instructions: Visit our facebook page for more details. Bringing children is encouraged.
• Nashik– Dugarwadi Forest Area
  2 Oct 2019, 07:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor – Talk
  Contact: Nature Conservation Society of Nashik, [email protected], 9011034892
  Instructions: The event will be focused on studying birds, butterflies, and wildflowers in semi-evergreen Forest of Northern Western Ghats.

Punjab

• Kapurthala
  2 Oct 2019,  07:00 hrs. Outdoor- Bird walk
  Contact: Sanjiv Khanna, [email protected], 9814064303

Tamil Nadu

• Chennai–IIT Madras
  6 Oct 2019, 06:15 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Mahathi, [email protected], 9840989354
  Instructions: Please avoid bright coloured clothes. Preferably also bring a notebook with you. If you are from outside IITM please contact me so that I can give you a bit more information.
• Coimbatore–Government Higher Secondary School, Arasur
  3 Oct 2019, 15:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor – Talk.
  Contact: G. Krishnaveni, [email protected], +919080017249.
  Instructions: Bring binoculars if you have, bring water bottles, note and pen.
• Coimbatore–GHS Marappalam
  4 Oct 2019, 08:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor – Talk, Indoor – Games/interactive session.
  Contact: Visalakshi G, [email protected], 9003988049.
  Instructions: Bring notebook and pen.
• Madurai– Zoology Dept, Lady Doak College
  7 Oct 2019, 14:00 hrs. Bird Quiz Program for School & College students, Conducting same type of Pictorial quiz for social media followers.
  Contact: N.Raveendran, [email protected], 9843136786.
  Instructions: Participating LDC students must have basic Knowledge on Birds.
• Madurai–Velichinatham, Lady Doak College Satellite campus
  2 Oct 2019, 07:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Priya Rajendran, [email protected], 09486071644.
  Instructions: Bring your binoculars/ cameras and a note book.
• Rajapalayam–Rajapalayam Rajus College
  2 Oct 2019, 07:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor – Talk.
  Contact: S.Vishnusankar, [email protected], 9944211147.
  Come with water bottle, umbrella, pencil and note pad.
• Salem–Krishnampudur
  7 Oct 2019, 10:00 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor – Talk.
  Contact: Senthilkumar S, [email protected], 9443939609.
  Instructions: Bring note, pen and Binocular.
• Salem–Thalavaipatty lake
  4 Oct 2019, 15:30 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk, Indoor – Talk, Indoor – Games/interactive session.
  Contact: Rajangam P, [email protected], 9442667952.
  Instructions: Bring water bottle,notebook and pen.
• Valparai–Government High School, Cinchona
  3 Oct 2019, 15:40 hrs. Outdoor – Bird walk.
  Contact: Selvaganesh K, [email protected], 9786175613.
  Instructions: Come with water bottle, umbrella, pencil and note book.
• Kodaikanal–Bombay Shola, Claverac dorm, Near forest rest house,
  2 Oct 2019,  06:00 hrs. Outdoor- Bird walk
  Contact: Harikrishnan, [email protected]., 8289860281
  Instructions: If you have a binocular take it with you. If you don’t have one it’s fine.

West Bengal

• Nadia– West Bengal
  6 Oct 2019,  16:00 hrs. Outdoor- Bird walk
  Contact: Biswajit Singha, [email protected], 9832742963

Introduction to Birds and Birdwatching

We have put together a powerpoint presentation on “An Introduction to Birds and Birdwatching”, which includes section on birds in general, a guide to common Indian birds, and a section on Beyond Birding. You are welcome to download this presentation, modify it for your audience and context and use it. There is an accompanying word document with notes for each slide, to help with the presentation. If you do plan to use the presentation, please do let us know; and afterwards, tell us how it it went!

Presentation (v0.3, 2016): .ppt (17.6 Mb) or .pdf (16.4 Mb) | Notes: .doc (40 Kb)

Note: This presentation has been created for the Bird Count India partnership. It is meant for download and use in educational and outreach efforts. You are free to modify it to suit specific purposes and audiences. This presentation is being distributed on the understanding that none of the material it contains will be used for commercial purposes, and that in all cases photograph credits must be retained in any modified version. Most of the photographs in this presentation have been used with the specific permission of the photographer. Others have been downloaded from the internet; for these we apologize for not having obtained advance permission. If your photo appears in this presentation, and you wish to have it removed, please write to [email protected] and we will replace it.

Banner Image by Ravi Viswanathan

Summary of the events during Wildlife Week across India

Kerala

A bird walk was conducted for the first-year students of NSS College Ottapalam, Palappuram campus. Watching birds was a new experience for first-year students. They learned to use binoculars, birding app and identifying the birds using the app and book resource.

-Preethi N
[email protected]

As part of the wildlife week, Raju Kidoor and Maxim Rodrigues gave a talk on birds followed by an outdoor bird-watching session that was conducted at G.W.L.P School, Kajampady. While Raju gave an introductory talk about birds, Maxim discussed bird diversity, their behaviour and the various habitats where they can be found.

-Maxim Rodrigues

As part of Wildlife Week, CNHS organised a Bird walk at Kadamakudy on 4 October,  2019. The walk was led by Premchand Reghuvaran and seventeen bird enthusiasts participated in this program. The role of birds in nature, migration, field identification, counting methods were some of the topics that were discussed during the walk. Some of the highlights included migratory birds like Broad-billed sandpiper, Curlew sandpiper, Common redshank.  Many were thrilled to use the bird pocket guide, especially for the beginner bird watchers, it was very useful.

-Premchand Reghuvaran

Maharashtra

Nature Conservation Society of Nashik had organised an outing to the Dugarwadi Forest Area at Trimbak Range of Nashik District. 30 students from Boy’s Town Public School participated in the event. The hike in the pristine forest of Northern Western Ghats was full of biodiversity. We saw various birds, butterflies, moths, wildflowers, trees during our walk. The highlights were: Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Golden Oriole, White-cheeked Barbet, Plum-headed Parakeet, Painted Francolin, Indian Peafowl, Indian Owlet Moth, Plum Judy butterfly trapped in a spider web, monsoon crabs, forest ghost flower, etc. Team leaders – Pratiksha Kothule, Rajesh Kurup, Pooja Kothule, Mr. Shirsat.-

-Rajesh Mangal
Secretary, WNC Indore
9584 884 666

Madhya Pradesh

With the outset of wildlife weak, Wildlife & Nature Conservancy (WNC), conducted a nature walk at Badgonda Forest Nursery in Indore. This was done in association with the MP Forest Department with an aim to document the birds residing in the 100 hectares of the nursery and its surroundings. Twenty-five participants attended the nature walk and 44 species were spotted. The highlights were: Pied Cuckoo, Large Cuckooshrike, Oriental Turtle Dove, Eurasian Wryneck, White-bellied Minivet, Common Iora

We are thankful to Shri Anil Nagar Sir-Rtd CCF, Shri Manoj Argal Sir- CCF R & E, Shri Dharmendra Pare, Ms. Sangeeta-RFO, Mr. Billore-DRFO, Mr. Tripathi and all the staff of Badgonda nursery along with all members of WNC who contributed in today’s documentation.

About Wildlife & Nature Conservancy (WNC):

WNC is a non-profit making NGO,  established with the aim of working towards the cause of nature conservation. Based in Indore the NGO works activity in the surrounding areas, We work with schools, conducting birds survey, nature trails, etc.

-Wildlife & Nature Conservancy

A brief report on the wildlife week celebrations at Indore submitted by Mr. Ajay Gadikar, Indore

The Wildlife Week was celebrated in Indore by our NGO “The Nature Volunteers” in association with the Forest Department. Two bird walks for Students were organised on 3^rd and 4^th Oct. 2019

I lead the birding trail on both the occasions and tried to convey the importance of the birds to the students.

The first trail was organized at the Biodiversity Nursery, Forest campus; Navratan Bagh. Around 50 students of Saint Paul’s primary school attended the trail. Children saw various species of birds found in and around the nursery. The main attraction was watching one of the smallest bird found in India -the Pale-billed Flowerpecker apart from the noisy Jungle Babblers, Red-vented Bulbul, Indian Grey Hornbill, Purple Sunbird, Oriental Magpie Robin, Rose-ringed Parakeets, Common Myna, and Asian Koel.

Students were demonstrated how the plants are prepared in the nursery and they also gathered information about different types of trees present in the forest campus and also saw different kinds of plants.

The second trail was organised at the Ralamandal Wildlife Sanctuary. Around 60 children from the Government School enjoyed bird watching in the lush green sanctuary and saw many species of birds. It was fun-filled learning for them, a class out of the classroom.

Children saw the few tree holes in which the birds make their nests. They saw the Shikra catching prey in front of them. They also saw a pair of Indian Grey hornbill and were fascinated to know about their typical nesting behaviour.

A quiz on bird-related information was also organized, in which the children’s enthusiastically answered all the questions.

Many interesting facts related to birds were shared with the children.

Senior forest officials were also present on the occasion; they reinforced the requirement of planting fruit-bearing trees and why to conserve the biodiversity..

–Ajay Gadikar

Karnataka

Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) had organised a bird outing to Jakkur Lake. This outing was in collaboration with the ‘Jalposhan Group of Jakkur’. The aim of the program was to introduce people to bird watching. More than 80 people including 25 children came for the program. With the aid of a spotting scope, some binoculars, bird pocket-guides, the participants were able to see Spot-billed Pelicans swimming, Little Cormorants diving underwater, Black-headed Ibises preening,  Brahminy Kite circling overhead and a few more.

While the adults continued watching birds, the children played the ‘Bird Bingo’ game. They were very excited as the game demanded to find bird droppings, types of food that birds eat, various refuge and perches that they regularly use, and many other things connected to a bird’s life. A snake (Checkered Keelback) was spotted swimming in the water which all of the participants could see and marvel!

-Subhadra Devi
NCF

Here is a narrative submitted by M.N Sahiti who studies at Sri Kumaran’s Childrens Academy, Class 7.  Sahiti talks about her experience of the bird walk that was organised by Chandra Sekhar Bandi at Kaikondrahalli Lake, Bangalore.

If you live in Bengaluru and you love birds and butterflies then Kaikondrahalli Lake is a great place to go for a walk, or for practicing sketching as I did. This beautiful lake is located near Bellandur. In the morning the birds love to splash and sing in their melodious voices here.

At 7:30 in the morning, with Chandu uncle, Garima aunty, Kumuda aunty and Krupakar uncle as our guides, we set off on our bird watch. At the very start all we could see were a few snakes swimming in the water and we were quite disappointed. But as we walked further, we saw 3 or 4 Spot-billed Pelicans, two extremely aggressive Indian Pond Herons and a few ”cute” Eurasian Coots. These birds are mainly wetland birds which means they live in both land and water.

At around 8 in the morning we started seeing lots of aerial and land birds such as Ashy Prinias, Common Mynahs, Pale-billed Flowerpeckers and Common Tailorbirds. The small, jewelled Purple-rumped Sunbird was also seen prominently on the walk. We also started to identify the calls of a few birds like the Common Tailorbird (“twi-twi”) and Ashy Prinia (“which-which”). In our observations we saw that the Pale-billed flowerpecker had a unique way of eating – instead of eating the fruit, it only sucks the juice and drops the remaining pulp to the floor, which was very interesting to see up close.

The lake also had many colourful butterflies, spiders and a few exoskeletons of bugs. This was a wonderful experience with such amazing and informative guides, and I hope that other people also visit this beautiful lake to learn about its unique wilderness and preserve its natural beauty.

Sketches and paintings by Sahiti

-M N Sahiti

On 5th October, a bird walk for residents of Pride Vatika layout, close to the Bannerghatta forest was organised as a part of Wildlife week celebrations with the help of Geetanjali Dhar and Kumudha. A group of 40 children and adults joined the walk. We watched Scaly-breasted munias and White-cheeked barbets nesting. We learned how to approach a bird and watch it without disturbing it. The water body in the society hosted the White-throated and common kingfisher. The kids and adults watched kingfisher dive and pick a fish. A bottle-brush tree attracted a group of white-eyes and sunbirds which everyone watched from close quarters. It’s a morning well spent with kids excited about spotting new birds in their neighbourhood.

-Chandra Sekhar Bandi

Tamil Nadu

As a part of the wildlife week celebration, students of the Indian Roller birdwatching club from Panchayat Union Middle School, located in Thalavaipatty, Salem, participated in an evening Bird walk at the Thalavaipatty lake. Seventeen species are recorded during this birding session.

-Garima Bhatia
NCF

Wildlife Week 2019 was celebrated with great gusto by the students and faculty of the Department of Zoology, Stella Maris College (Autonomous), Chennai. Members of the Shikra Club went birding on campus and recorded 16 species during this period. Spotting the Brown Shrike for the first time on campus was the icing on the cake! A Bird Quiz was also organised and around 40 students participated. AS The winners were gifted ‘Early Bird’ pocket guides on the birds of Peninsular India on October 23, 2019. This special day was chosen for the prize distribution as we witnessed the arrival on campus of the first winter migrant, the Indian Paradise Flycatcher.

Students from Stella Maris College, Chennai, watching birds during Wildlife Week

-Vidhya Swaminathan
Stella Maris

As a part of our bird walk during the Wildlife week, on 2nd October, a team comprising of one faculty Dr.Priyatharsini Rajendran from Lady Doak College, Madurai, a local birder Mr.Raveendran Natarajan, 4 children and 8 Students visited the satellite campus of Lady Doak College at Velichinatham. The area is densely covered with variety of shrubs, grasses, palm trees and a large number of fruiting trees including wood apple, Mangoes and guava. We observed quite a variety of birds including Laughing dove, Eagle-owl , Blyth’s Reed warblers, Tickell’s Flowerpecker, Common tailorbird, Baya weavers, Indian Roller, Common Hawk-cuckoo, Ashy Prinias, Bluefaced malhoka, Honey Buzzard, Spotted doves, Shikra and Indian Peafowl. We also observed other common birds such as the Common mynah, Rose-ringed parakeets, Asian palm swifts, Jungle crow and Common crow in large numbers. The Rose-ringed parakeets have nested in many of the palm trees and we observed one nest being disturbed by a Bengal Monitor lizard. The students and children who participated in the bird walk were very excited at seeing such a variety of beautiful birds in close quarters as we had the green cover and the sight of raptors was memorable.

We wish to thank ‘Early-Bird’ for their bird pocket guides which they had sent us.

-Priyatharsini Rajendran, Ph.D.,
Associate Professor of Zoology
Lady Doak College
Madurai