One of the largest events of its kind, Big Bird Day, is all set to kick off on Sunday. And city teams are excited. In fact, it was a team from Hyderabad that won the event, last year.
So, what’s Big Bird Day? Started in 2004, in Delhi, BBD is a day-long “search” by photographers to both shoot and catalogue various species of birds in and around their cities.
Over 100 teams across the country are expected to participate in this year’s event and Hyderabad Birding Pals — 2015 winners — are confident of winning again, and are hoping to spot and catalogue over 250 species this time around.
variety: Last year, close to 700 new species of birds were spotted across India during Big Bird Day, including these which were spotted in Hyderabad
The data collected goes into the India chapter of open-for-all portal ebird.org — ebirdindia. Last year, over 700 birds from across the country were added to the online catalogue.
Rajeev Khandelwal, a member of the group says, “We have a checklist in place and wish to identify more species this year. We have added another team and have a total of six teams now — each named after a bird — who will be scouting and scanning for birds at six different hotspots across the city, the entire day.
variety: Last year, close to 700 new species of birds were spotted across India during Big Bird Day, including these which were spotted in Hyderabad
The areas we will be scouting will include Osmansagar, Himayatsagar, Icrisat campus, Narsapur forest, Ameenpur Lake and Ananthagiri Hills.”
Although it’s great to win this competition, the fact that it helps document the migrating patterns of birds as well as help identify new species in the city is a major driving force.
He adds, “If all teams from all over the subcontinent watch birds at multiple locations on the same day, the data becomes very valuable for measuring actual bird diversity of the region. It can form a rich database, especially if accumulated over several seasons or years.”
Long-time bird lover and member of the group Mulagala Srinivas feels they might be in for some surprises this time.
variety: Last year, close to 700 new species of birds were spotted across India during Big Bird Day, including these which were spotted in Hyderabad
He says, “With the climatic conditions changing so drastically owing to global warming, the migrating patterns of these birds have also changed. So, we wouldn’t be surprised if we see new species.”
