Anonymous

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Birdwatching Tips

• By
• Anonymous

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Birds, Birds and more Birds

• Birds are found everywhere on the earth surface
• There is no place which has not received the
  shadow of birds
• Human beings are attracted to birds from childhood

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Birds Where do you live?

• Birds live in all forms of habitats and
  substrates
• There are birds which fly almost 9 months a year
  in the sky, while others live in caves most of
  their life

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What colours?

• Birds are colourful
• There is no colour and shade in this world which
  birds do not have, from the blood red to stunning
  green
• You need a technical colour book to describe a
  bird - they come in so many shades with subtle
  differences.

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Birds come in all shapes

• Come in all shape and sizes, although general
  features remain same

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Birds are handsome

• I am more handsome than Salman Khan

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Birds are pretty
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Birds are cute!
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Birds are useful

• As food
• As pollinator
• As seed disperser
• As controller of insect pests
• As scavanger
• As cultural icon
• As a part of web of life

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Birds are amazing!

• The Arctic Tern flies 40,000 km in a year
• The Wandering Albatross can sleep while flying
• The hummingbirds become almost lifeless in winter
  nights
• A Black-tailed Godwit flew non-stop for 9,600 km
  in 8 days

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Let us go for birdwatching

• What do I need?
• Enthusiasm and quest for knowledge
• Bird book
• A pair of binoculars
• Field Notebook and pen/pencil
• Experienced birdwatcher/teacher
• Some snacks and water (bring all garbage back)
• Permission from parents
• Permission from the Forest Department
• GPS

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WHICH IS IT?

• Where and When
• Note down the locality/area
• Date
• For example, Gharana Wetland, 22 Jan. 2008

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WHICH IS IT?

• Habitat
• Forest
• Wetland
• Grassland
• Agricultural field
• Garden

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WHICH IS IT?

• Impression
• Note the general appearance
• What does the bird look like while sitting, in
  flight
• General colours of the body
• Tail length, beak shape

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WHICH IS IT?

• Comparison
• What is its size, compared to well-known species
  such as House Sparrow, Crow, Black Kite, Bulbul,
  Myna, Peafowl
• Is it smaller than a House Sparrow or bigger? How
  big? Is it the size of Bulbul or Myna?

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WHICH IS IT?

• Habits
• How does the bird behave while
• Standing
• Walking
• Running
• Flying

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WHICH IS IT?

• Identification
• Field marks such as
• Bars
• Patches
• Colours
• Shape of wing
• Shape of beak
• Shape of leg

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WHICH IS IT?

• Sounds
• Calls and songs
• Listen to birdcall cassettes
• Transcribe in words
• Did he do it
• Patela patela patel or Kapil Dev, Kapil Dev Kapil
  Dev
• Brain Fever, Brain Fever

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WHICH IS IT?

• Important details
• Size
• Shape
• Length
• Colour of legs, feet, beak, eyes
• Colour and size of bare parts
• Wattle
• Crown
• Gape of mouth
• Nails

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WHICH IS IT?

• Tail and Wings
• Shapes
• Length
• Patterns
• Tail/wing ratio

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DO IT!(This is additional information)
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DO IT!

• Distance how far were you from bird?
• Optics Binocular or telescope, what power or
  magnification?
• Instant of observation Time and duration
• Team Name of other companions

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Additional Field Marks

• Look for such details
• Breast Is it plain (unmarked), spotted,
  streaked, barred, striped?

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Field marks

• Look for such details
• Wings
• Does the bird has wing-bars (how many bars?).
• Is the wing plain?
• Are there patches or stripes on the wing?
• Wing tips (pointed, round, narrow)
• Wing mirrors

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Field marks

• Look for such details
• Tail
• Colour Does it have a band at the tip, bands
  across it, white sides, or spots in the corners?
• Shape Is it wedge-shape, square, elongated,
  forked, round.
• Streamers or long central feathers?

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Field Marks

• Look for such details
• Head
• Does it have
• a stripe over the eye
• a ring around the eye
• Stripes on the crown
• Patch on the crown

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Field Marks

• Rump
• Does it have a conspicuous rump patch?
• If so, how big and what colour?

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Thank You