KERALA BIRD RACE

KERALA BIRD RACE

In the annual attempt to encourage bird-watching among the public and create awareness about the bird life in and around the region, the sixth Kerala Bird Race has been scheduled for November 18.Organised by Kerala Birder in association with the Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) and Yuhina Eco-Media, the Bird Race is a dawn-to-dusk event, to be held simultaneously in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, where teams of bird-watchers will spend the entire day trying to spot as many species of birds as possible.  “The main purpose of the race is to build support for nature conservation by introducing beginners to the finer points of bird-watching and spread awareness of the region’s wildlife,” said P O Nameer, Head of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Kerala Agricultural University and General Coordinator of the event.“Bird-watchers from other states are encouraged to participate as well,” he added.

Teams of three or four members, including one experienced bird-watcher, can choose the area they want to scout within a 100-km radius of the city.After spending the day recording as many bird species as possible, the teams are expected to gather at a suitable venue and discuss their day’s findings. To ensure that the results are accurate, each city has a judging panel comprising senior birding experts who will analyse the reports and announce winners at the special programme held in the evening.  “Prizes are given to the teams who spot the highest number of species and the ‘Bird of the Day,’” said A K Sivakumar, Senior Education Officer WWF-India and Coordinator for Thiruvananthapuram.“Last year, it was the Black Baza, a rarely seen bird of prey, which was the ‘Bird of the Day.’”  The previous year had seen nearly 400 participants on the field, majority of them being first-time bird-watchers, Sivakumar said. Some of the teams had seen as many as 140 species.Nature conservation groups such as WWF-Kerala, Cochin Natural History Society, Malabar Natural History Society, Nature Education Society, Thrissur and Kottayam Nature Society are among the coordinating organisations. Interested participants should send a mail to wwfklso@gmail.com or an SMS to 9447386978 on or before November 10.

Prof. John Kurakar