Although Manipal is known to be an educational hub, with many trees around, it also has quite a large bird population. So much so that birders have formed an informal organisation called the Manipal Birders Club. Students of Manipal University have been enthusiastic participants in this club.
Every year, these birders conduct a Manipal Bird Day, when they fan out to the remote corners of the university town and its surroundings to trace birds, either in the first or the second week of February.
They have been doing this for the past four years and the fifth edition of the Manipal Bird Day was held on February 1.
As many as 75 participants, including 30 students from Manipal University, divided themselves into 15 teams and visited 17 different locations including Saralebettu, Indrali Temple, Eshwar Nagar, End Point, Golikate, MIT campus, Herga, Shettibettu, Dashrath Nagar and Manipal lake.
They visited these places from 7 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. and then in the evening from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A total of 155 species were seen on the February 1 — including rarities such as the Tickell’s Thrush, Blue-eared Kingfisher and Slaty-breasted Rail.
The most commonly reported species included Indian Golden Oriole, Red-wattled Lapwing, Spotted Dove, White-throated Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater, White-cheeked Barbet, Ashy Drongo, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Common Myna and Purple-rumped Sunbird.
The team to Herga recorded a total of 105 species, while the team that explored the MIT Campus found 40 species. “The objective of the Manipal Bird Day is to encourage bird watching and to know how many species of birds are around,” said M. Shivashankar, a birder.
Ramit Singhal, alumnus of Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) and author of the book ‘A Birder’s Handbook to Manipal’, who now works as a Naturalist here, said that the number of students participating in the Manipal Bird Day had increased from three in 2011 to 30 in 2015. “The increase in awareness is the major reason for students taking to birding,” he said.
Mr. Singhal’s book printed in 2013 recorded 208 species of birds. The new edition of his book expected in April 2015 will have details of 250 species.
Subhasmita Patro, a final year electronics and electricals student from MIT, who joined the club in 2012, said that though she loved birds, she learnt about birding only after she joined the club. “Now I am hooked to it. In fact I led the team to Saralebettu this time,” she said.
