Birdwatchers, unite: Delhi gets its own atlas for birds!

Delhi’s skyline is pitch-perfect for a mighty flight: not by planes, but perhaps, by the eagle! You can't mix its ‘klee-klee-klee’ with the sweet chirrup of the tiny sparrow. Or with the occasional shrill ‘eep!’ of a blue parakeet. Or with the loud honk of the gorgeous peacock. It's almost certain that you’ll find them, and a hundred others, while spending time out and about in the city.

And while you do that, keep in your pocket the capital’s first Bird Atlas, set to release next month!

The detailed booklet on Delhi’s bird diversity (in terms of species and distribution) is part of the city’s annual Van Mahotsav celebrations between July 1 and 17. The atlas is being put together by a huge army of environment watchdogs: Delhi’s forest and wildlife department, birders from Bird Count India, Delhi Bird Foundation, WWF-India, Amaltas Walks, Wildlife SOS, Asian Adventures, and the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

The team is already three surveys down, while one's currently running. Results from the first two surveys are going to make you giddy: we have some 225 species of birds in the city. The ultimate plan is to revise the atlas again in a couple of years, to compare and establish whether bird count and diversity are going uphill, or otherwise.

It's quite obvious for the city to have too many birds: not many skyscrapers and a lot of lush trees to build nests on. Black kites, purple sunbirds, rose-ringed parakeets, Indian peafowl, and various barbets are up for encounters, each day, every day, while Bonelli’s eagle, Indian bush lark, Indian golden oriole, and the greater flamingo play a bit hard to get. 

Here's where you can bird watch in Delhi:

1. Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Okhla, East Delhi
2. Jahanpanah Forest Park, Greater Kailash
3. Kamala Nehru Ridge, North Delhi
2. Yamuna Biodiversity Park, East Delhi
3. Sultanpur National Park in the outskirts of the city