A total of 310 species were spotted during the Haryana Bird Count 2020, a state-wide avian census that took place between January 12 and January 19 in the State, the statistics compiled now said.

Out of 310, around 35 species were reported for the first time in the State. The highest numbers of species 213 were spotted in Gurugram,  said additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Vinod Kumar while talking to The Pioneer.The Additional PCCF said the census brought to the fore encouraging figures and revealed the presence of many rare species. “The department has endorsed the survey findings and will use the same for avian conservation initiatives,” he said.

Kumar said that over 30 teams of 130 bird watchers carried out the count from January 12 to 19 across the State. The Forest and Wildlife Department supported the birders with logistic and access to forest areas, he said, adding that species spotted include Baillon's Crake, small Pratincole, Gull-billed Tern, small Buttonquail, common House-Martin, Pale Sand Martin, Bank Swallow, European Roller, Himalayan Flameback, Brown-fronted Woodpecker, Speckled Piculet ,Indian Golden Oriole, Chestnut-tailed Starling,Tricolored Munia, Rufous-vented Grass Babbler, Black-chinned Babbler, Rufous-tailed Lark, Water Pipit, Striolated Bunting, Common Iora, Thick-billed Flowerpecker, White-crowned Penduline-Tit, White-naped Tit,Blue-capped Redstart, Plumbeous Redstart, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Fire-fronted Serin, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Himalayan Swiftlet among others.

Kumar said that the State's  22 districts boast of more than hundred birding hotspots as documented by Ebird, India. Ebird is a database available on public domain that collate and analysis the Bird watching.

Haryana has recorded 505 species of birds which were observed based on observers reporting in the last 10 years. Based on observation of 4 years and during 3 winter months of December, January and February, the reported numbers of species are 421 and 361 in the month of January in the two past years.

Against this back ground, Haryana Bird Count 2020 on two dates of January 12 and January 19 recorded 310 species in which 17 districts of the 22 were covered. These numbers are consistent with previous record of 361 for January for all districts, the official said, adding that more interesting part of Haryana Bird Count 2020 has some 35 species reported were not the one reported earlier in the Ebird

The additional PCCF said that the field staff of Forest Department Haryana supported the participating teams with all required logistics during the survey. While average size of the team was four, there are instances of lone birder covering hotspot and also team comprising of nine members. Instances of teams travelling more than 100 kms to carry out bird count in a particular district were also seen.

Highlighting the outcome of the census, he said that while Bird count in most of the districts confirmed the prevailing trends of last 10 years, some of the districts showed marked improvement in the species count, such as Yamunanagar which had an average of 83 over the past years and record of 90 species in the current year.

Similarly Palwal, (plus 30 per cent), Rewari (plus 500 per cent), Sirsa, Panipat and Bhiwani registered remarkable improvement from the past records available on Ebird.

Kumar said that based on the findings of Haryana Bird Count 2020 and existing reporting of species in the Ebird, a combined list of 331 Species has been arrived at as baseline species to consider as benchmark to for the month of January in Haryana. Results also indicate that there is potential to improve the tally of known 506-507 species of Haryana as there are at least 4 district that were not covered namely Ambala, Nuh, Hissar, Kaithal.

There are districts like Charkhi Dadri and Fatehabad either not covered previously or covered scarcely. The major districts traditionally covered are 4 and they are Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jhajjar and Panchkula. Thus balance 18 districts hold ample opportunity to improve the species count of the state.

After Gurugram, the highest number of species were spotted in Jhajjar (187), followed by Rewari (161), Faridabad (150) and Sonepat and Yamunanagar (120 each), Mahendragarh (105), Fatehabad (83), Charkhi Dadri (94), Rohtak (74), Kurukshetra (88), Panchkula (102), Palwal (131), Bhiwani (101), among others. The data also highlighted noticeable increase in number of species in districts such as Palwal, Yamunanagar, Panipat, Bhiwani and Sirsa. Yamunanagar, which had so far recorded 83 species in the month of January, reported 120 species.

Sunder Lal Sambhariya, DFO Rewari, said that the census was conducted by teams of bird watchers with the Forest and Wildlife Department’s support. Such census is being conducted during January each year. During monsoon season also migratory birds were being spotted in various parts of Haryana and department conducts such census during monsoon season each year. ”It is interesting that the first bird count recorded 310 species but since teams were of different sizes in different districts, this could be the reason more species were spotted in districts such as Gurugram and Faridabad.” Another wildlife officer said that during this season, over 15,000 migratory birds of more than 100 species from Siberia, Russia, Europe, Afghanistan, China and other countries were seen swimming and chirping in the water bodies at Mandothi and Rohad villages.

While bird watchers and lovers from Delhi, Chandigarh and different districts of the State visited these villages, local residents are also enjoying the presence of these winged guests in their area. Wildlife inspectors have been roped in at these villages to ensure the safety of these birds, an official said, adding that this year, the number of migratory birds is much higher than previous ones. Not only at Mandothi and Rohad, but also at Aashoda, Dighal, Baland, Ritauli, Kabulpur, Dhaud and Jharli villages, migratory birds were using water bodies on private lands as stopovers.

The wildlife officer said that the objective of the bird count was to know the exact number of various species of avi-fauna in the State as well as to find out the well-being of the birds and the habitat in which they were living, he said, adding the counting have been focus on bird species as the highest numbers of migratory birds were being used to be at the wetland areas during this season.

He further said, “The bird is quite common in the surrounding areas of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Sometimes, birders miss the bird as it looks like some common species. Also, it is difficult to click a photo since it keeps on flying. Interestingly, the bird resembles a crescent or a boomerang.

The wildlife officer said that study reveals that migratory birds from China, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tibet, Siberia and Iraq start thronging the wetland in October-mid. The winged visitors return to their native countries in March with the onset of the spring season. January is the best time for its counting and recording..”

The Wildlife official said distribution, numbers and behaviour of birds are changing over a period of time because of various reasons. The population of the black partridge (kala teetar), Haryan state bird, sparrow among others has been decreasing over the past few years.  As of now, there are no exact figures of the population of many bird species in the state, he said, adding this data will help the department to take more effective measures to conserve wildlife in State.