What's On in April
April is here and so is the heat. Large numbers of wintering migrants are expected to leave this month for cooler breeding grounds, and you can see which ones deplete in numbers by looking at the seasonality charts. Some species leave almost entirely by April – such as the Gadwall, Paddyfield Warbler and the Yellow-browed Warbler. Others, such as the Blyth’s Reed Warbler only begin to move towards the end of April.
April is also the month when some summer migrants begin appearing in the North-western states – moving into breeding grounds from south India. For example, have a look at how the sightings of the Indian Golden Oriole, which show as most regular during the winter when you look at the whole country, but build up through the course of April in Delhi and Haryana. (Click the image and then Change Location to select your own part of the country, and see if you can understand your local pattern.)
Birding Events:
7 April 2024, the Birdwatchers’ Society of West Bengal is hosting an event called Dawn Chorus Day which entails in recording early morning bird vocalizations. For more details see here.
There is also a list of birding events (mostly walks) that are conducted on a regular schedule (typically weekly or monthly) by various birding groups across the country. Take a look to see if there is something happening near you!
Challenges
Here is the April 2024 eBirding Challenge for India.
Take a look at the yearly challenge for India for 2024.
There is also the global eBirder of the Month challenge and the global Checklist-a-day Challenge to look forward to.
Are you organizing a birding event soon?
If so, please drop a line to skimmer@birdcount.in so that we can include it in our monthly “What’s On in Birding” updates.
Note:
The results of the Great Backyard Bird Count and the Campus Bird Count will be published soon.