Bird passage migration count conducted in Kutch, Gujarat

230 species identified

Bhuj: The Passage Migration Count (PMC) 2024, a bird survey, was successfully conducted from September 13 to 15 in Kutch, Gujarat. This was the third year of the massive exercise, which was undertaken jointly by the Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat (BCSG), Bird Count India (BCI) and the Gujarat Forest Department.

As many as 230 bird species were identified during the PMC by 140 avid bird watchers / volunteers, who assembled in Kutch from across 17 States from across the country. A majority among them were from Maharashtra. Migrant bird species such as spotted flycatcher, blue-cheeked bee-eater, European roller and common cuckoo, etc were spotted during the three-day exercise. The region was divided into 240 grids, which were covered by 40 teams. Ringing of some birds was also done. In 2022, it became the first migrant count in India and the world’s first citizen count for this group of migrant birds.

Thousands of passage migrants halt for a couple of weeks in Kutch due to the availability of food on their way from Central and East Asia to Africa. Speaking about his experience in the PMC 2024, Sunil Nikam, a birder, said, “It was my first bird count after I did my basic course in ornithology in Pune. I am happy and satisfied that I could identify four major migrant species such as red-tailed shrike, European roller, spotted flycatcher and common cuckoo.” Among other regular participants from Pune were Subhash Ghule, Raju Pasalkar, Mahesh Bilaskar, Ayan Watve, a young birder, Virendra Gaikwad and Rajendra Kamble.