Report – Campus Bird Count 2020 – Centre for Urban Ecology and Sustainability

The Centre for Urban Ecology and Sustainability (CUES) took part in Campus Bird Count (CBC) 2020 by organizing bird counts in all five campuses of Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD). Before the start of the event, the Centre organized an orientation session on 13 February 2020 at AUDs Kashmere Gate Campus in an effort to introduce participants to the basics of bird identification, common birds of Delhi, and provide an overview of the protocol for counting birds during the event. Dr. Monica Kaushik, who is an ornithologist and a Visiting Assistant Professor at AUD’s School of Human Ecology conducted the orientation.

The birding event was organized over a period of three days and saw the participation of around 30 students, researchers, faculty and friends. On 14 February 2020, birds were counted by three groups in AUD’s Kashmere Gate Campus, Karampura Campus and Lodhi Road Campus, respectively. On 15 February 2020, bird walks were conducted in AUD’s upcoming campus in Dheerpur and the Dheerpur Wetland Project Site that is being managed by CUES. CBC 2020 concluded on 17 February 2020 with birds being counted in AUD’s upcoming campus site at Rohini. A list of bird species and their numbers were recorded on eBird India – an online platform managed by Bird Count India created to understand the distribution, abundance, and population trends of Indian birds through data provided by common citizenry.

During the three days of the event, a total of 45 species (42 in CBC 2019) were recorded including common species such as House Crow (Corvus splendens), Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis), Black Kite (Milvus migrans), Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis), Rock Pigeon (Columba livia), Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer), Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), Eurasian Collared-Dove (Streptopelia decaocto), Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus) and Wagtails. Some of the other sightings were those of Shikra (Accipiter badius), White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis), Red Avadavat (Amandava amandava), Oriental White-eye (Zosterops palpebrosus), Coppersmith Barbet (Psilopogon haemacephalus), Indian Gray Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris), Brown-headed Barbet (Psilopogon zeylanicus), Eurasian Hoopoe (Upupa epops), European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica), Yellow-footed Green Pigeon (Treron phoenicoptera) and Plum-headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala).