Indian birdwatchers are flocking together in droves

THE INDIAN PITTA WAS SPOTTED IN DELHI AFTER 60 YEARS WHILE THE WHOOPER SWAN WAS SEEN IN HIMACHAL AFTER 13 YEARS

NEW DELHI: Birdwatching was once considered a pastime of the elite, but over the past few years people from almost all walks of life have been spending time in green watery zones to catch the chirp of the winged creatures.

Networks of enthusiasts have swelled at a brisk pace in India and one of these groups added another feather to its cap this month — one million bird sightings, a fivefold increase from an annual exercise a year ago.

Not that the number of birds has gone up, but the number of birders certainly has —from about 1,000 on the Bird Count India network in 2014, to 3,000 this year.

The network has a burgeoning database of birds in India, as the government does not conduct a bird census even for the endangered species.

Suhel Quader, a scientist at the Bengaluru-based Nature Conservation Foundation who started the initiative two years ago, said people have disposable incomes and they are willing to spend it on equipment – cameras and binoculars – to observe nature from close quarters.

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