Birds of the same feather

“There are bird races that take place frequently in the city. However they are vague and many a times involve birds from around the city as well. This survey is specifically limited to PMC limits and will be conducted using scientific methods,” says Gunawant Mahajan,one of the volunteers of Ecological Society.

With over 125 volunteers,the city has been divided in 33 zones where the bird counting will be done between 6.30 to 9.30 am. “There are two methods of doing bird census. One is called the transect method wherein the counting members travel across the main road and count the bird around that. Similarly,they follow rivers,smaller roads and lanes and follow the procedure. In this,one has to cover 1 km distance in 15 minutes and is not supposed to stop anywhere midway. The second method is the point count method wherein we count the number of birds at their roosting locations such as rivers,bushes,trees and so on,” adds Mahajan.

With vacation season as an advantage,majority of the volunteers of the mission are school children and college students. “I got to know about the bird census and approached the organisation. I am excited and looking forward to doing the survey,” said Soham Mohite,a standard 12 passout. “Another reason for selecting this season is that the migratory birds who come to the city have left by now. As a result of this,we would get number of local species only,” adds Mahajan.

While the 1979 survey had covered 12,000 hectares of area,this one will be covering 24,000 acres which is almost double of the earlier one. “We have created a bird count form in which one has to fill details such as the name of the bird,species and so on. On June 10 we will have most of the data available with us,” says he.

Birds have been considered reflectors of the society and the data generated will be used to generate information about- whether the numbers have increased or decreased,have new habitats been created in the city,what are the reasons behind decline or rise in the numbers and so on. “The availability of the earlier data will hep us generate a comparative study as well. “As a result of this,we would be able to closely monitor the alterations in the environment and the effects on birds,” says Mahajan.