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Racing for The Birds: because, birds tell a lot The 8th Mumbai BirdRace is scheduled for Sunday, 26th February, 2012 By Citizen Reporter
Yuhina EcoMedia (a Mumbai-based organisation specializing in natural history and environment-related activities and events), along with, and supported by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) is organising the Mumbai BirdRace. Throbbing, crowded yet bird-rich Mumbai is where the India BirdRAces began in 2005 and have since spread to 14 cities across the country, having become very popular affairs at several Indian metros. The fact that this is the seventh year of the India Bird Races and participation and number of participating cities is only rising, is testimony to the fact that birds continue to enamour more and more amongst us, from every age group. These Bird Races are dawn-to-dusk events where teams of bird-watching enthusiasts, from beginners to experts, from 7 year-olds to 81 years young, spend the day birding in and around the metropolitan region. In these dawn-to-dusk birding marathons, a large gathering of experienced and budding birdwatchers spend the entire day spotting and identifying birds in an effort to record as many species of birds as possible. They also learn the finer points of bird watching from experts. Later, they get together for an interactive experience-sharing session that will be held on the lawns of the Maharashtra Nature Park, itself a remarkable success story of nature’s comeback into the urban realm. As many as 283 species of birds have been sighted on a single day during one of the Mumbai Bird Races, and that would be the highest number spotted within and around any metropolitan city in just the day-lit hours. For the other years of the Mumbai BirdRaces too, the total tally for the day has been surprisingly high, almost averaging around 250 species on this one day! Perhaps the wondrous world of our featherfolk, full of colour and flight and song and scream, too is fascinated by this birding marathon and chooses to come out in full force on this one day, to be seen and admired by all and as if trying to tell us haughty humans something, perhaps trying teach an important lesson in ecology and common-sense. Interestingly, the highest single day tally of 283 species recorded on 22nd January 2006 was, well, quite simply, nearly a whopping quarter of the subcontinent’s bird-diversity spotted in one of the world's most heavily built-up and increasingly expanding urban region! That is the power of the BirdRace, and of so many people coming together for a cause. Supported by HSBC, the India Bird Races have become the bank's signature event. Conceived by Mumbai-based naturalist-writer-photographer Sunjoy Monga, on the lines of similar events held in some other parts of the world, though modified in the Indian context, the India Bird Races are held in association with local organizations and individuals across so many cities in India today. In Mumbai, the Chief Coordinators for this event are Pravin Subramanian and Ravi Vaidyanathan, both of whom are keen birding enthusiasts and are actively involved in various outdoor activities. Ravi and Pravin are putting the mega event in place said, “Not only from the urban area proper, but, birdwatchers from many townships and areas around also participate and bird-watch non-stop from dawn to dusk, with most of the region's experienced birdwatchers providing leadership to this unique event.” inform Ravi and Pravin who have been very busy getting everything in place for the mega-event. Commenting on the event, organiser and naturalist Sunjoy Monga, said, “The India BirdRaces have ushered in an eagerly awaited, entirely new dimension to birdwatching with enthusiastic participation everywhere; it has aroused interest in so many people to look at birds and from then on to other aspects of nature. Equally importantly, the India BirdRaces are yielding valuable data in the context of avifauna in the urban areas.” Positioned as a fun event, yet full of serious stuff and serious adjudication and observation and teamwork, the Bird Race is aimed at generating awareness among people about the bird life surrounding the region as well as support for the conservation of nature and the environment. Over time it gives us a good idea of the region's avifauna (bird-life) and what could be the species and areas facing problems. www.indiabirdraces.in is being revamped and would contain lot of details on birding and data of the last 6-7 years and some interesting facts and figures... do login after a week and be surprised. Registration of the Mumbai Bird Race starts....Kindly use Google Chrome / Firefox Browsers to register...........https://sites.google.com/a/dhaatu.com/bangalore-bird-race/Mumbai and enter more than 8 characters in the location address area. The People behind the Race - Sunjoy Monga, the event organiser, is a Mumbai-based natuaralist-writer-photographer, widely travelled, independent professional working in the field of nature and environment education and documentation. The Chief Coordinators for Mumbai are Ravi Vaidyanathan and Pravin Subramanian. Ravi Vaidyanathan works for ILFS Financial Services, handling Operations and MIS and is a keen naturalist, avid trekker and a wildlife photographer. http://picasaweb.google.com/ravee.vaidya http://picasaweb.google.com/subramanian.pravin Pravin Subramanian is a business analyst taking a sabbatical from the corporate world presently pursuing a degree in business administration at the Indo German Training Center. |
The city of Mumbai never sleeps; it is always up to something exciting. The Mumbai Marathon, the Cyclothon … and now a rendezvous with birds of and around Mumbai.