This Urban Jungle Teems with Avian Life

Photos by Pankaj Gupta / Text by Sharad Kohli

In the urban jungle that is Delhi, there is room for avifauna—and plenty of it, including residents and migrants.
Modern metros might seem inimical to these winged wonders but wherever there are pockets of greenery or bodies of water, there are bound to be birds. We know this to be true, because in the heart of one of the world’s most densely populated cities, a quiet ecological transformation is taking place, powered not by high-tech labs or satellite imagery, but by binoculars, bird checklists, and citizen resolve.

From drains to wetlands, a year-long endeavour led by citizens is changing how the capital sees its ecology. The Delhi Bird Atlas, a city-wide initiative to systematically document the capital’s avifauna, marked the completion of its first full year in July, with a gathering of over 150 birders, forest officials, researchers, and NGOs at the WWF Auditorium, Lodhi Road. In just 12 months, the Atlas has mobilised over 200 volunteers, generated 1150 eBird checklists, and mapped more than 221 bird species across wetlands, ridge forests, drains, urban villages, slums, and high-rise colonies.

Unlike one-off bird counts, the Atlas follows a seasonal (winter and summer), grid-based methodology that enables researchers to track temporal trends, habitat-level changes, and migratory patterns with greater resolution. And crucially, the data is open and contributed to the eBird global platform, making Delhi one of the few megacities with a growing public dataset on urban birdlife.

“This is field ecology, ground-up, happening in the middle of one of India’s most important urban spaces,” said Dr Akash Gulalia, one of the senior birders, adding, “The Atlas not only tracks birds, it’s beginning to reshape how we understand urban green spaces.”

Indeed, the success of the Delhi Bird Atlas project presents us with an opportunity to reconnect with nature, to become citizen-birders and ensure that the green and blue spaces in our cities – forests and parks, ponds and lakes – are safeguarded for the overall well-being of our avian neighbours. After all, isn’t Planet Earth a space we share with them? So, dust off that pair of binoculars, head outdoors, and keep your eyes trained on the stunning variety of birdlife that exists in our midst.

The Delhi Bird Atlas was supported Bird Count India, Delhi Forest Department, WWF-India, delhibird Foundation, Wildlife SOS, Asian Adventures, Dial (Delhi International Airport Limited), and other conservation partners, with a promise to engage more volunteers in its second year

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Seen roosting and nesting in (or visiting) Delhi: Black-breasted weaver, Black redstart, Brahminy starling, Cinereous tit, Citrine wagtail, Great egret, Green bee-eater, Grey-headed swamphen, House sparrow, Indian pond heron, Indian spot-billed duck, Intermediate egret, Isabelline shrike, Little ringed plover, Little stint, Long-tailed shrike, Oriental magpie, Pied bush chat, Plum-headed parakeet, Purple sunbird, Red avadavat, Red-breasted flycatcher, Scaly-breasted munia, Shikra, Siberian stone chat, Sind sparrow, Whiskered tern, White-browed wagtail, White-tailed lapwing, White-throated kingfisher, Wire-tailed swallow, Wood sandpiper, Yellow wagtail, Yellow-wattled lapwing, Zitting cisticola

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