224 species documented in Mysuru belt in 2025 annual bird census

The single-day exercise was conducted by 71 volunteers under the aegis of Mysore Nature led by A. Shivaprakash, a well-known birder and ornithologist, and the 19 teams, which took part in the exercise, covered 110 water bodies across the three districts.

In all, 224 bird species were documented across the Mysuru-Mandya-Chamarajanagar belt during the annual winter bird census and monitoring exercise conducted in January this year.

The single-day exercise was conducted by 71 volunteers under the aegis of Mysore Nature led by A. Shivaprakash, a well-known birder and ornithologist, and the 19 teams, which took part in the exercise, covered 110 water bodies across the three districts.

‘’While 224 bird species were documented this year, 226 species were identified in the 2024 exercise,” said Mr. Shivaprakash.

The survey findings reinforce Mysuru region as an ideal habitat for birds, including the migratory species that come here to roost during winter, such as the Bar-headed Goose, which flies in all the way from Mongolia. This is attributed to the presence of water bodies some of which are recognised as Important Bird Areas (IBA) by Birdlife International.

Mr. Shivaprakash said there is no drastic change in the number of birds or the number of species documented. However, the tendency to replenish water bodies to the brim, is not conducive for birds that are waders that forage food in shallow waters. These birds need slush-like conditions with good shoreline that tend to be partially dry and help them find food. But with lakes being replenished from dams to help farmers raise multiple crops, the situation is not conducive for waders.

He said, “31,005 birds were enumerated this year against 40,435 birds in the 2024 exercise. Out of 224 species, 157 were resident species and 57 were migratory species while 10 species belong to the Eastern and Western Ghats (notably from Gundu Patna, Taraka-Dammanakatte, and Bandipur-Gopalswamy Betta Road),” Mr. Shivaprakash added.

The highest number of species – 143 in all – were observed along two routes – KRS and Mysuru Rural 1 comprising  Immavu, Hadinaru, Varuna, Varakodu Giribettadakere areas. The results indicate that most abundant of species – that is total count from all locations – was the Bar-headed Goose and 2,881 were counted, followed by Barn Swallow (1,694), Cattle Egret (1,752), Spot bill Duck (803) and Eurasian Coot (732).