Bird watching

India with more than 1250 species of birds, is a paradise for bird watching. There are over 925 breeding species (~920 residents). The Indian birds belong to 25 groups called 'Orders', which are further divided into 'Families', 'Sub-families' and 'Genera'. For birding in India, 13 bio-geographical regions can be demarcated: Trans Himalayan, Western Himalayas, Eastern Himalayas, Desert, Semi-arid, Gangetic plain, Central India, Deccan Plateau, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, North East, Coasts and the Andaman Nicobar Islands.

A large number of people all over the world (not too many in India!) enjoy bird watching or birding. There are over 1200 species of birds found in the India. Bird sare colorful, lively, interesting to listen to and relatively easy to attract to our gardens. Bird watching does not require a lot of equipment, just a good pair ofbinoculars and a field guide that helps identify the bird.

Getting Started: The best way to start is to go with someone who has been birding for a while. If you don't have friends that bird, try finding a local birding club. Many good bookshops have a selection of books, magazines and tapes on bird watching. Birding is also a popular Internet subject. Learn to identify common local species using your field guide. Consider putting a bird feeder and/or bird attracting native plants around your home. Because different birds live in different habitats, try to visit as many different habitat types as you possibly can.

Choosing a Bird Guide: A good bird guide has clear, easy to recognize, color illustrations. The guide includes information about habitats, maps showing range of different birds, if, where and when they migrate and what their song or call sounds like. The better guides show seasonal color changes, similar appearing species, and provide information on how to tell them apart. These guides also give information about the various birding sites.

Bird Topography: is the list depicting different visible parts of a bird. This is important because as you read through the birds descriptions next to their pictures, the guide will often use these unfamiliar terms. To the beginner many birds look alike. By learning basic bird anatomy more experienced birders soon become proficient not only at telling species apart, but also knowing where in the guide to look for them. Bird anatomy also provides clues to where birds live, what they eat and what general group they belong to. Therefore, a good knowledge of bird topography is essential for bird watching.


Image Courtesy: www.birdlife.org

Bird Topography

Range Maps show areas inhabited by a particular bird. This is helpful in eliminating similar appearing species. Range maps also tell you when species are in the area. Some birds are year round residents, some are found only in the summer or winter, some pass though during migration, and some are vagrants. Through the use of different symbols and colors range maps can tell a birder that information.

Birding Ethics:

• Be quiet, avoid harassment; don't disturb the birds.

• Be extra careful during the breeding season of the birds.

• Do not handle eggs or young or tarry too long at nests.

• Don't use bird calls audio tapes to attract birds, unless very necessary for some research.

• Follow all rules of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

• Divide larger groups of people into smaller more manageable numbers.

• Leave no litter or trash, carry it back with you. Ingested trash items can kill.

For birds in Gurgaon - Haryana ( place where I live) this website is a great help:

http://www.haryana-online.com/Fauna/haryana_birds.htm

Some pictures by me :