THRISSUR: In the last decade, around 10,000 people have been part of the Kerala Bird Monitoring Programme and uploaded seven lakh checklists (of birds observed during a 15-minute walk) -- spotting, identifying and documenting common and rare birds in Kerala. So far, 559 species have been recorded in the state, thanks to 34 NGOs and their coordinators, who became part of the initiative out of a sheer interest for birds and nature.
It was in 2015 that the Kerala Agriculture University (KAU), backed by Bird Count India and other organisations, including the state forest department, launched the programme, primarily to publish a Bird Atlas -- the first such initiative in the country.
Overcoming the challenges thrown up by the 2018 floods and the Covid lockdown, the atlas was published in 2021, in addition to the district atlases for Thrissur, Alappuzha, and Kozhikode.
“While consistent bird monitoring has been happening in Kerala since the 1990s, the advancement of technology and platforms like E-bird made it more convenient,” says P O Nameer, dean of KAU’s College of Climate Change and Environmental Science and an ornithologist.
“The citizen science-based bird monitoring programme enabled ecological conservation in more than one way. We were able to come up with a bird species chart for 1,000 panchayats in Kerala, while no other taxa has such a chart.
We also have habitat-wise data from across the state, including on species that inhabit the coastline, those that live in forests, wetlands, etc. This data, collected over the years, can be used to understand ecologically important locations aka hotspots and help local bodies to chalk out development projects protecting such areas,” Nameer points out.
Over the years, the documentation by individuals and groups of birdwatchers has played a major role in understanding the ecological value of locations across Kerala. By monitoring and studying the habitats of various species, the citizen science project has played a crucial role in ecological conservation.
According to Manoj Karingamadathil, a birder and citizen scientist, “To have a community of like-minded people and coordinate its activities is definitely a herculean task. The achievements of the surveys and programmes conducted under the citizen science project in birding are a result of this successful coordination. Through these projects, people from various strata of society became a part of a long-term process of monitoring birds, thereby understanding the changes in the biodiversity of their respective areas.”
Such communities not only monitor birds, but also invest their time in observing butterflies, dragonflies and fish, embracing nature, Manoj added.
Activities under Bird Monitoring Programme
Heronries survey: Documenting nesting sites of herons
Wetland monitoring: Continuous survey of birds in wetlands, including Ramsar sites like Kole Wetlands and Vembanad Lake
Seabird survey: Counting and studying seabirds in the sea
Beach combing: Monitoring birds along the coastline
Raptor monitoring: Survey of raptors like vultures and eagles
Forest survey: Annual count of birds that inhabit major forest regions
Redlisting: Process of understanding rare and endangered species