India

When Soumya Kundu uploaded his six pictures of Yellow-browed Bunting from the Sundarbans, West Bengal, the total number of bird species covered in eBird from India touched 1,300! In other words, more than 98% of the bird species reported from the country, ever, find a place in eBird and it signifies the impact of this growing resource for scientists and bird-watchers alike. India becomes the eighth country in the world to touch 1,300 mark in eBird – six of the top countries are in South America.

While eBird listing does not always demand evidence in the form of media, it is worth noting that more than 1215 species from India already have a photograph uploaded on to eBird, by far one of the largest image repositories on Indian birds; comparable to the sixteen year old Oriental Bird Images. Audio recordings on eBird are still catching up with 647 species represented, much lesser than the 932 species covered by the Xeno-Canto website.

The last 4 species to be added to the India list on eBird (Anti-clockwise from top-right): Spoon-billed Sandpiper by Atanu Modak and Biswanath Mondal; Chin Hills Wren-Babbler by Rofikul Islam; Namaqua Dove by Krunal Trivedi and Akshay Trivedi; Yellow-browed Bunting by Soumya Kundu