Amur Falcon (Pix: Dr. Muthu Narayanan)

Baillon's Crake (Pix: Dr. Muthu Narayanan)

Blue-throated flycatcher (Pix: Dr. R. Bhanumathi)

AOrange-breasted Pigeon (Pix: Umesh Mani)

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo (Pix: Umesh Mani)

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a global event that happens during February 13-16 every year. This year, the sub-event in India was the Campus Bird Count. The Madras Naturalists’ Society (MNS) co-ordinated the count in Tamil Nadu, with Subramanian Sankar anchoring the event.

List of participating schools and colleges:

The School-KFI, University of Madras, Stella Maris College, Vivekananda College, Sishya School, Dharmambal Polytechnic, Chettinad Vidyashram, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Marudam Farm School (Tiruvannamalai), Olcott Memorial School, IIT – Madras, Kalakshetra, Anna University, Women’s Christian College, Madras Christian College.

Tamil Nadu – 323 species recorded, 739 check lists

Coimbatore – 221 species

Tirunelveli – 182 species

Chennai – 133 species

Top 5 Hot Spots in Tamil Nadu (Most species recorded)

Mittanamalli Wetlands, Thiruvallur

Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai

Kannankurichi Lake, Salem

National Institute of Technology, Trichy

Koonthakulam Bird Sanctuary, Tirunelveli

Top 5 Hot Spots in Chennai (Most species recorded)

IIT – Madras

Theosophical Society, Chennai

Olcott Memorial School, Chennai

Guindy National Park, Chennai

The School-KFI, Chennai

Rare sightings

Booted Warbler, Virudunagar –

Sharan Venkatesh

Ruddy Breasted Crake,

Mittanamalli Wetland,

Thiruvallur – Pronoy Baidya

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, IIT Madras – Susy Varughese

Citrine Wagtail, IIT Madras – Anshuman Sarkar

Egyptian Vulture, Tuticorin – Dr. Muthu Narayanan

Orange-breasted Pigeon, IIT Madras – Umesh Mani

Yellow-throated Bulbul, Vellore - Hari Hariharan

Blue-winged Leafbird, Vellore – Hari hariharan

Sri Lanka Green-Pigeon, Coimbatore – The Nature Trust

Amur Falcon, Tuticorin – Dr. Muthu Narayanan

Sykes Warbler, Trichy – Arun Jeeva.

(Courtesy: MNS Bulletin)