The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Nationwide study on migrant birds

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

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Nationwide study on migrant birds

K. Venkateshwarlu

A joint study plans to study the movement of nine common winter migrant bird species to India

Exotic: A Wood Sandpiper

HYDERABAD: In one of those early morning chance encounters, you sight a waterfowl with prominent orange brown spatulate bill shaped like a shovel and metallic glossy green head, swimming away to glory in a lake.

Or when you pass by a lush green paddy field, you suddenly find a harrier gliding slowly and low methodically searching for prey. In flight, its wing tips are conspicuously black and contrast strongly with the rest of the wing which is grey and brown.

You might not know that you have just sighted, Northern Shoveler in the first instance and Western Marsh Harrier in the second but you treasure them in your memory, clueless what to do. Now is the chance to learn more and share whatever little you know about bird watching.

Joint study

In a countrywide citizens science programme “Migrant Watch”, launched recently, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and Indian Birds journal plan to study the movement of nine common winter migrants to Ind ia—Grey Wagtail, Black Redstart, Wood Sandpiper, Brown Shrike, Rosy Starling, Greenish Warbler, Common Swallow besides Northern Shoveler and Western Marsh Harrier.

“It is a participatory activity in which citizen volunteers across the country will note the arrival and presence of the nine bird species that spend the winter in India,” says Aashish Pittie, Hyderabad-based founder editor of Indian Birds. No special travel or effort is required other than noting the days on which you observe these species either at your living or workplace.

Countrywide maps

What will it accomplish? Pooling information from volunteers across the country, the NCBS wants to build countrywide maps of first arrival and regular presence dates, and dates of return migration for each species. The information gathered will be used to investigate the timing and speed of migration; and whether migration times are changing from year to year. “A small effort, multiplied by many participants, can lead to huge advances in our knowledge of bird migration,” says Suhel Quader of Migrant Watch.

For those who have just started observing birds but are keen to participate, the Website ( http://www.ncbs.res.in/citsci) has large photographs and lists of tips to identify these nine species of birds. Happy birding!

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