Bird Checklist for Yamuna Biodiversity Park

The Birds Checklist for Yamuna Biodiversity Park!


Yamuna Biodiversity Park
Jharoda Majra (Near Village Jagatpur)
Wazirabad, Delhi
Tel: +91 11 2761 6569
Email: ybp@biodiversityparks.org

1.                               Alexandrine Parakeet

2.                               Ashy Prinia

3.                               Ashy Wood Swallow

4.                               Asian Koel

5.                               Asian paradise Flycatcher

6.                               Asian Pied Startling

7.                               Bank Myna

8.                               Bar-headed Geese

9.                               Barn Owl

10.                           Barn Swallow

11.                           Baya Weaver

12.                           Bay-backed Shrike

13.                           Black Bittern

14.                           Black Drongo

15.                           Black Ibis

16.                           Black Kite

17.                           Black Redstart

18.                           Black-breasted Weaver

19.                           Black-crowned Night Heron

20.                           Black-headed Gull

21.                           Black-headed Munia

22.                           Blackrumped Flameback Woodpecker

23.                           Black-shouldered Kite

24.                           Black-winged Stilt

25.                           Bluethroat

26.                           Blyth’s Reed Warbler

27.                           Booted Warbler

28.                           Brahminy Starling

29.                           Brown Rock Chat

30.                           Brown-headed Barbet

31.                           Brown-headed Gull

32.                           Cattle Egret

33.                           Cinnamon Bittern

34.                           Citrine Wagtail

35.                           Comb Duck

36.                           Common Babbler

37.                           Common Chiff Chaff

38.                           Common Coot

39.                           Common Greenshank

40.                           Common Hawk-Cuckoo

41.                           Common Hoopoe

42.                           Common Kestrel

43.                           Common Kingfisher

44.                           Common Moorhen

45.                           Common Myna

46.                           Common Pochard

47.                           Common Redstart

48.                           Common Redshank

49.                           Common Rosefinch

50.                           Common Sandpiper

51.                           Common Snipe

52.                           Common Starling

53.                           Common Stonechat

54.                           Common Tailorbird

55.                           Common Teal

56.                           Coppersmith Barbet

57.                           Cotton Pygmy Goose

58.                           Crested Bunting

59.                           Crested Lark

60.                           Crested Serpent Eagle

61.                           Darter

62.                           Dusky Crag Martin

63.                           Eurasian Collared Dove

64.                           Eurasian Golden Oriole

65.                           Euarsian Scops Owl

66.                           Eurasian Thick-knee

67.                           Eurasian Wigeon

68.                           Eurasian Wryneck

69.                           European Roller

70.                           Ferruginous Pochard

71.                           Gadwall

72.                           Garganey

73.                           Graceful Prinia

74.                           Great Cormorant

75.                           Great Crested Lark

76.                           Great Egret

77.                           Greater Coucal

78.                           Greater Painted-snipe

79.                           Green Bee-eater

80.                           Green Sandpiper

81.                           Gereenish Warbler

82.                           Grey Francolin

83.                           Grey Headed Canary Flycatcher

84.                           Grey Heron

85.                           Grey Wagtail

86.                           Grey-bellied Cuckoo

87.                           Grey-breasted Prinia

88.                           House Crow

89.                           House Sparrow

90.                           House Swift

91.                           Indian Bushlark

92.                           Indian Cormorant

93.                           Indian Cuckoo

94.                           Indian Grey Hornbill

95.                           Indian Peafowl

96.                           Indian Pond Heron

97.                           Indian Robin

98.                           Indian Roller

99.                           Indian Silverbill

100.                        Intermediate Egret

101.                        Isabelline Wheatear

102.                        Jungle Babbler

103.                        Jungle Bush Quail

104.                        Jungle Prinia

105.                        Laggar Falcon

106.                        Large Grey Babbler

107.                        Large-billed Crow

108.                        Laughing Dove

109.                        Lesser Coucal

110.                        Lesser Whistling Duck

111.                        Lesser White Throat

112.                        Little Cormorant

113.                        Little Egret

114.                        Little Grebe

115.                        Little Ringed Plover

116.                        Little Stint

117.                        Long-tailed Minivet

118.                        Long-tailed Shrike

119.                        Mallard

120.                        Marsh Harrier

121.                        Night Jar

122.                        Northern Pintail

123.                        Northern Shoveller

124.                        Open Billed Stork

125.                        Oriental Magpie Robin

126.                        Oriental Skylark

127.                        Oriental Turtle Dove

128.                        Oriental White-eye

129.                        Osprey

130.                        Paddyfield Pipit

131.                        Painted Stork

132.                        Pheasant-tailed Jacana

133.                        Pied Bushchat

134.                        Pied Cuckoo

135.                        Pied Kingfisher

136.                        Plain Prinia

137.                        Plum-headed parakeet

138.                        Purple Heron

139.                        Purple Sunbird

140.                        Purple Swamphen

141.                        Red Avadavat

142.                        Red-throated Flycatcher

143.                        Red-crested Pochard

144.                        Red-rumped Swallow

145.                        Red-vented Bulbul

146.                        Red-wattled Lapwing

147.                        Red-whiskered Bulbul

148.                        River Tern

149.                        Rock Pigeon

150.                        Rose-ringed Parakeet

151.                        Rosy Starling

152.                        Rufuous Treepie

153.                        Scaly-breasted Munia

154.                        Scarlet Minivet

155.                        Shikra

156.                        Short-eared Owl

157.                        Sirkeer Malkoha

158.                        Small Minivet

159.                        Southern Grey Shrike

160.                        Spanish Sparrow

161.                        Spot-billed Duck

162.                        Spotted Dove

163.                        Spotted Owlet

164.                        Tawny Pipit

165.                        Temminck’s Stint

166.                        Tifted Duck

167.                        Verditer Flycatcher

168.                        White Eyed Buzzard

169.                        White Wagtail

170.                        White-breasted Waterhen

171.                        White-browed Fantail

172.                        White-browed Wagtail

173.                        White-eared Bulbul

174.                        White-tailed lapwing

175.                        White-throated Kingfisher

176.                        Wire-tailed Swallow

177.                        Wood Sandpiper

178.                        Wood Shrike

179.                        Wooly-necked Stork

180.                        Yellow-belied Prinia

181.                        Yellow Bittern

182.                        Yellow Wagtail

183.                        Yellow –billed Babbler

184.                        Yellow-eyed BabblerPigeon

185.                        Yellow-footed Green Greater

186.                        Zitting Cisticola

Happy birding!

The Big Bird Day was a surprise, Ranjit Lal was a bigger surprise and the snake capturing was the final surprise!! Birding at Yamuna Biodiversity Park on 5th Feb, 2012.

The plan was to set out from Noida at 7.30 am. We set out at 7.45 am, excellent by any standards. We took just 20 minutes to reach the Yamuna Biodiversity Park (YBP) as there was hardly any traffic. A note for others who go to YBP, when you see the first road sign proclaiming ‘Yamuna Biodiversity Park’ and see a bridge over the ‘nallah’ on your right, leave that one, and move ahead. Within 200-250 meters, you will see another small bridge across the ‘nallah’ and a similar road sign. This is the one you should take, and for that you need to go down the road for some distance and take a U-turn. Then go straight down the bridge and along the straight road till after about 200 meters you see YBP to your left. By the way, the first bridge takes you to the same Jagatpur area but you have to follow a very narrow and bumpy service road along the ‘nallah’ to reach the other bridge and then turn right, therefore better to take the second bridge after the U-turn.

Phew! Direction instructions over, now I can get down to the actual birding experience. Me and an office colleague Koushik had planned this trip for Saturday, but I wasn’t able to make it, so we went the next day, Sunday. When we reached YBP, Dr. A K Singh, with whom I had spoken to the previous evening, was at the gate. The first thing he said was, “Will you wait for the Big Bird Day group?”.

I literally jumped with joy as did my friend, because we had no clue that it was the Big Bird Day (the day every year, when a bird count happens all across Delhi’s main birding areas). Of course we waited, and soon met up with at least 20 birders, and amongst them a well known birder Dr. Oswal.  However, at the helm of things was Dr. Faiyaz A. Khudsar, scientist in-charge of YBP. A very impressive person who quickly handed out bird-lists for YBP and started to mobilise the birding forces. He quickly and efficiently organised everyone into 3 groups. I and Koushik got attached to a group that would go through all the wooded areas, and would have three other birders and a guide from YBP, Mr. Mohan.

The Big Bird Day walk in progress, Mohan is right in front.

As we started to walk, I enthusiastically pointed out an Indian Koel hiding between the branches of a tree, and wondered who the three people with us were. Mohan, a wonderful naturalist and person,  started to spot birds with great expertise, as we began our walk. A short , bespectacled slightly elderly gentleman with us, was making quite amusing remarks about the birds. He described one as wont to do a lot of make-up, especially with the lipstick. We were looking at the red-crested pochard which is found only in the YBP in the Delhi region. As I peered through the binocs I did notice that they looked like they had applied quite a bit of red lipstick.

A Red Crested Pochard, this photo is from the
FlevoBirdwatching site, specifically from this page - 

http://www.birdsnetherlands.nl/uk%20visitors%20amsterdam.htm

At one point, to make some conversation, I asked one of the birders, a tall pepper haired person, if Dr. Oswal the well known birder was in the other group. He said, yes, and then he said, “There’s a famous birder amongst us too…”.

As I wondered who it was, he pointed at the short bespectacled gentleman and said, “That’s Ranjit Lal”.