Bird Atlas

Bird Atlas Of Mysore

Mysore, the regal city renowned for its enchanting palace, delectable sweet-meat Mysore Pak and balmy weather can now take pride in announcing its very own Bird Atlas, - the first of its kind in India. The avid birders of the city – Mysore nature group - have pulled a rare feat when they got together to create a Bird Atlas of Mysore (https://birdcount.in/three-years-mysore-atlas/ ).

 In line with the topographical and climatic diversity of the city, Mysore witnesses different species of birds – some regular and some season- - local as well as migratory throughout the year.  Water bodies like the famous Karanji, Kukkarahalli and Lingambudhi lakes and even Chamundi Hills are the main points of convergence, though several species of birds can be seen within the city as well, although rapid urbanization may affect their future distribution. It is interesting to see how the seasonal changes impact the movement of the birds, for example, there could be a lot of birds in the yard or at feeders, but after a month or two, there could be almost none. There is also a parallel harmony and evolution between urban settings and the avifauna biosphere outside the urban setting.

For this Bird Atlas effort, the total area of Mysore city of 160 km² was divided into 132 grids – squares of areas measuring 1.1 x 1.1 km. Volunteers monitored each grid for birds, for their abundance and movement. This herculean task was carried out by avid bird watchers who volunteered to go for early morning and evening bird watching for 30 days at their designated areas, for three consecutive years.  It took many person-hours to design, coordinating and executing this pioneering project, with fieldwork totaling nearly 400 hours of birding A team of 60 dedicated birders was formed for bird watching and meticulously documenting the names, pictures and season in which the birds were spotted. Bird Atlas effort documented 192 species of birds in the city, where 130 are spotted in winter months and 105 in summer months/monsoon season. 

This study and the data gathered, cleared some doubts and speculations about certain birds and their ‘disappearance’.  For example, the Atlas shows that the house sparrows are not declining in numbers - not vanished or gone extinct - rather they have moved to less populated areas within the city. You may think that black/house crow is omnipresent in Mysuru. In addition, don’t be surprised if you find Asian koels more often as black kites, rose-ringed parakeets and common mynas could outnumber the humble crow!

It is a real credit to the team – there are over 400 bird atlases in the world, but India has just one – Mysuru Bird Atlas! The next step for the Bird Atlas team is to understand how urbanization affects bird species and their habitats. For this, the Team needs to work with urban planners and city administration and with the Nature Conservation Foundation. This could be the best way forward aiming at an inclusive and sustainable urban and avifauna development.