Birdie Spotted! Ahmedabad BirdRace event to make a comeback this month in an expanded format

With an unrivalled diversity of ecosystems, Gujarat possesses a rich and varied quality of birdlife present across the state. Lying on important flyways for millions of birds migrating south in winter, multiple regions of Gujarat are significant avian hotspots of the country and are a paradise for birdwatchers.

Pegged to bolster sustainable ecotourism and to give impetus to environmental events for nature lovers and bird watchers of the state, the yearly Ahmedabad BirdRace event will now be upscaled to a statewide level for the coming edition.

The organizing body of the exclusive birdwatching event i.e. the Bird Conservation Society of Gujarat (BCSG) has now prepared a new list of areas for the event with an inclusion of 38 locations across the entire state of Gujarat.

The new areas further constitute multiple birding hotspots and other birding habitats specifically chosen for the coming edition of the Ahmedabad BirdRace which is to be conducted on January 8.

The event was held in 24 locations of Gujarat during the previous edition including places like Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary in Ahmedabad, Chhari Dhand in Kutch, Pariej and Goblapura wetlands in Kheda district and Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary in Jamnagar.

The new locations include noteworthy grasslands of the Kutch district such as Kalo Dungar and Dholavira, desert islands of the Little Rann of Kutch in Surendranagar, deciduous forest lands in Gir East wildlife division including Jasadhar-Tulshishya-Khmabha area, Nada Bet on the Indo-Pakistan border in Banaskantha and Khokhala-Taranagar-Subapura in Patanin.

The Ahmedabad Bird Race is a dawn-to-dusk birdwatching race with multiple events which are held in a competition-based format. The teams of birdwatchers have to spend the entire day birding in and around every enlisted region marked for the BirdRace.

The participants are required to spot and record as many bird species as possible, after which all teams will meet at a suitable venue for an interactive session. Each Bird Race has one or two special adjudicators who analyse the results ensure the infallibility of the races.