Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Birdwatching
Birdwatching
Deborshee
Gogoi
Assistant Professor,
Deptt. Of Management
Digboi College
What is Birding?
Why Birdwatching?
Birds an
Introduction?
How to do
Birdwatching?
Where to do Birding?
Dos & Donts in
Birding?
Photo gallery
History of Birdwatching
Edmund Selous was the first
person to use the term
Birdwatching in his book
entitled Bird Watching in
1901.
During the Victorian era, bird
watching was practiced in the
interest of collecting eggs and
the skins of exotic breeds.
With the onset of advanced
optics and field guides, bird
watching exploded on the
Eastern seaboard of the
United States and gradually
spread worldwide.
Cont.
Why birdwatching?
1. Contribute towards
existing knowledge
5. Economic Advantages
6. Builds competitive
mindset
Birds an introduction
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
Kingdom:
Animalia
Subphylum:
Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: 30 orders
Family: 194
families
Genus: 2099
genera
Characteristics of Birds:
189
One in eight of the world's birds faces extinction.
Since 1500 A.D: 190+ species ofbirds have
becomeextinct.
Weight range from 2 g to 100 kg.
There are about 300 billion (30000 crore) birds (#
individuals) on earth.
Probably Extinct: 2
Endemic Birds: 55 (Birds only found in India)
Dodo:
An extinctflightless bird
that wasendemicto the
island ofMauritius, east
ofMadagascar
in
theIndian Ocean.
The first recorded mention
of the Dodo was by Dutch
sailors in 1598. In the
following years, the bird
was hunted by sailors,
theirdomesticated
animals,
andintroduced
species during that time.
The last widely accepted
sighting of a Dodo was in
PINK HEADED
DUCK:
Pink-headed
ducks
were one of the rarest
species of waterfowl
that were found in
India.
They
mainly
inhabited
the
area
around the lower areas
north of the Ganges
and
west
offormerly
the
Thisduck
occurred
in
Brahmaputra
River.
easternIndia,Bangladeshand
northernMyanmar,
but is now probablyextinct. It was always rare,
and the last confirmed sighting, byC. M. Inglis,
was from Darbhanga in June 1935, with reports
from India persisting until the early 1960s. The
main reason for its extinction was destruction of
habitat and deforestation.
How to do Birdwatching?
1. Notebook:
Carry a notebook and
pencil to record the
birds you have seen,
and any markings or
unusual behaviour.
You can then use
your notes to confirm
your identification or
you can even make a
rough sketch which
will help you to
identify the bird later.
2. Field-Guide Books:
A good up-to-date field guide is a
must. There is no substitute for
an illustrated field guide which
you can carry with and flip
through to identify a bird in
front of you.
3.Birding Binoculars
Porro Prism Binoculars: Porro
prism models will deliver good optics
for the dollar, but lack the durability
and compact styling of roof prism
models. In addition, many Porros are
not waterproof.
Specification??
Birding Binoculars have two numbers:
7x30; 8x40; 20x60; etc.where
7x = Magnification that the binocular offers; a 7x
binocular will bring objects seven times closer to
the viewer than the naked eye.
The second no. x30; x40 is the width of the
objective lens in millimeter. Larger the objective
lens, more light while viewing the object.
Identification:
What to notice about birds?
1. Color and marking
2. Calls and Songs
3. Habits and
Behaviors
4. Size
5. Beak Shapes
6. Any other noticeable
feature
Where to do Birding?
1.Garden
2.Paddy field
3.Reserve Forest
4.Wildlife sanctuaries
5.National Parks
6.Water Bodies (Near River Banks/
sea shores/ ponds/ wetlands)
Bird habitats:
Wetland
Grassland
Woodland
Agriculture
Khonoma, Nagaland
Dehing-Patkai WLS
Dos:
1. Avoid Chasing birds. Support the protection of
important bird habits.
2. Sparse use of artificial lights for photographing
and filming birds.
3. Stay on roads, trails and paths where they exist.
Create minimum disturbance to their habitat.
Donts:
1. Do not photograph nesting birds.
2. Avoid use of recordings and other methods of
attracting birds in heavily birding areas or for
attracting threatened species.
3. Exercise
restrain
and
caution
during
Gracias