Steppe Eagle, IUCN Red List "Endangered".


Two Sundays ago, Nandkishor Dudhe and three others set off early in the morning for Chhatri Lake near Amravati, Maharashtra. Dudhe counted 29 species in an hour and then uploaded his list to a common website.

Dudhe is a research assistant at the Bombay Natural History Society for their Common Bird Monitoring Programme that encourages more people to observe birds, but this was more than a good way to spend a weekend. The occasion for the count was the Salim Ali Bird Count on November 15, the first in 20 years.


Spot-billed duck. Photo credit: Nandkishor Dudhe.


Counts such as the one to commemorate Salim Ali are events where people come together, observe a particular area for as little as 15 minutes or up to an hour, and note down the various species of birds they have seen or heard. As has become common practice over the last few years, participants upload their lists to eBird.org, a website that collates the millions of observations made around the world every year.

Bird counts on special occasions often attract more newly converted hobbyists than serious birdwatchers. But this event was more than a token exercise – as the name suggests, it commemorates the birthday of India’s foremost birdwatcher and ornithologist.

Born in 1896, Salim Ali has been enshrined in school textbooks as the “Birdman of India”. At a time when birds in the subcontinent hadn't been studied, Ali travelled across what is now India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to conduct ornithological surveys in both British and princely territories. His several volumes of books are invaluable reference points for ornithologists today.

The Bombay Natural History Society, which was Ali's base, stopped conducting this bird count 20 years ago because interest had declined. The society now hopes that the count will inspire more people to pick up their binoculars and get out to survey.

The numbers are promising. In one day, 280 people recorded 15,638 observations with 22 states and 514 species. Of those, 30 were from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Birds 2015. One was from the critically endangered category and four from the endangered.


White-backed Vulture, IUCN Red List "Critically Endangered".  Photo credit: Asad Rahmani


Getting started

Dudhe has been an avid birdwatcher since he was in school in Amravati. He first read of Salim Ali in a school textbook in the 8th or 9th standard.

“At that time, I had no books or binoculars or camera,” he said. “I just took my bicycle and went to see birds.”

With the guidance of local experts, he learnt how to identify birds, and later went on to study environmental science in college. A lot has changed since his school days, the most striking being the use of the internet to identify birds and to connect with other birdwatchers. For his part, he prefers to observe birds with binoculars than with cameras.

“If you are a good bird watcher, there is no need for a camera,” he said. “With binoculars, you get more information. You can observe the colours of the bird, their behaviour and movement. With cameras, you tend to want only a good photo. Some people even try to disturb the birds to get photos.”


Great Knot, IUCN Red List "Endangered". Photo credit: Avinash Bhagat


And how should newcomers begin to identify what they see?

The first thing is to rule out common species such as sparrows, crows or rock pigeons, Dudhe said. Next, see the size of the bird and draw it with notes for what colours and patterns it has. After that, mark its behaviour and whether it is present in a water body or forest land. The last step, ideally, is to send this description to a birding expert who can guess at the species. The internet is not always the most helpful resort.

“The longer you spend watching birds, you know which ones are found in which areas,” he said. “The process has to be continuous and not just for one day.”

Here are other species on the IUCN list, that were spotted during the Salim Ali Bird Count.


Black-bellied Tern, IUCN Red List "Endangered". Photo credit: Asif N Khan.



Egyptian Vulture, IUCN Red List "Endangered". Photo credit: Siddhesh Surve.