As per the news reports in September 2020, a bird atlas—Kerala Bird Atlas—has been compiled by a team of over 1,000 birdwatchers, associated with natural history societies and ornithology clubs across the Kerala, after strenuous exercise extending 5years. This was Asia’s largest citizen science project and surveyed 4,000 locations over 600 days. The volunteer birdwatchers teamed up with forest officials to scan nearly 10 per cent of Kerala. They worked during both dry (January-March) and wet (July-September) seasons, though coverage during the monsoons was affected by back-to-back floods in 2018 and 2019 and the ongoing pandemic.
The atlas is significant as it will throw light on the distribution of birds in the state as well as impact of habitat destruction and climate change on their lives. It will also be a document on bird diversity in Kerala. The idea of committing to a bird atlas was put forward in 2014, which could be possible because of the active birdwatching community in the state and the development of the app Ebird, which simplified the process of recording bird sightings into the database and helped detect errors while manually feeding the data. For instance, if someone happens to record an unusual species in a certain area and if that bird is not commonly seen in that area, then the district-level reviewers receive a notification of the entry on Ebird. Thereafter, they cross-check the entry made by the volunteer and send him/her a query asking for more details. The checking is done not only for the characteristics of the species, but also for the number of individuals of the species recorded.
Since birds are also viewed as indicators of changes in ecological conditions, the insights gained from the atlas can help point to urgent course-corrections required in a particular location.
Now, the researchers are busy in compiling and analysing the data recorded so far with a view to publishing the first draft of the atlas by the end of 2020. Thereafter, a detailed report will come by next year. Though there are some of the district atlases formally released already, an online dashboard is also available for the first time, created in github, showing locations and the species sighted there.
Birdwatching is a tough and challenging job as birders have to climb steep cliffs in risky and rainy weather, and navigate swollen rivers. They face angry herds of elephants in deep jungles and have their legs sucked by leeches. Many times, they are almost roughed up by locals who do not like their presence.
Executing such a project in a mountainous, tropical state with some of the most impenetrable forests in the world is all the more difficult job.
Courtesy: Indian Express