The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Answering some questions about migrating birds

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 13, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Answering some questions about migrating birds

Divya Gandhi

‘Indian Birds’, has launched MigrantWatch programme

The Northern Shoveler: One of the nine birds about which volunteers can post their observations.

Bangalore: Every year, hundreds of species of birds migrate to India, in noisy flocks or in silent order, some by night, others by day, over mountains and oceans, many from as far away as Central Asia and Siberia to avoid the biting winters.

We might never be fully able to explain these birds’ innate sense of direction that makes them travel through the air from one destination to another, without apparently referring to any navigational aids that humans would need.

But there are other important facts to be answered about bird migration, such as how fast do birds travel? Are migration patterns changing? Could this be related to climate change?

To find answers to some of these questions, the journal “Indian Birds”, in association with the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), has launched MigrantWatch, a programme that aims to tap the resources of the large number of amateur birdwatchers in the country, to help generate new information about this phenomenon.

In this programme, volunteers across the country can post their observations on nine winter migratory birds – the Northern Shoveler, Marsh Harrier, Black Redstart, Wood Sandpiper, Grey Wagtail, Brown Shrike, Rosy Starling, Greenish Warbler and the Common Swallow on the website http://www.ncbs.res.in/ citsci/.

“We do not want to restrict the initiative to ecologists and ornithologists.

Enthusiasts

“We want to draw in as many nature enthusiasts as we can, and all we need from them is a basic ability to identify the birds, to look out for them around their homes, schools and workplace, and report the day when they first saw the birds,” says Suhel Quader, a research fellow at NCBS and one of the organisers of MigrantWatch.

These nine species, chosen because they are quite widespread and relatively easy to identify, will encourage better participation, he adds.

Aasheesh Pittie, editor of “Indian Birds”, hopes that the collective effort will bring in much needed new data.

“We will use the information as baseline data to construct maps of arrival dates, of how long they spend and where, and the return migration dates for each species, and see if the patterns are changing from year to year.”

The target is to establish the first arrival dates by December, and the details of wintering by May 2008.

If you are interested in participating, send an email to MigrantWatch@ncbs.res.in with your name and location. The information you provide will be made available on the website, and a summary of the results will be published in the “Indian Birds” journal.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka