Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC)

Why in news?

• India was among 190 countries that participated in GBBC 2023 from February 17-20.
• It is an annual event that brings bird enthusiasts, students and nature enthusiasts together for counting birds they see around the places where they live, work or study.

Key Findings:

• West Bengal reported the highest number of species (489 species) followed by Uttarakhand (426), Arunachal Pradesh (407), Assam (397) and Karnataka (371) during the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) 2023.
• India’s birds are thriving in diverse habitats from the city to the countryside. A remarkable increase in participation across the country helped India upload the second-highest number of checklists after the United States of America and the third-highest species of any country.

About Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC):

• The GBBC was launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, and was the first online citizen-science project (also referred to as community science) to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real time.
• Bird Count India organises the GBBC in the country.
• In 2013, it became a global project after entering data into eBird, the world’s largest biodiversity-related citizen science (community science) project.

Bird Count India:

• Bird Count India is an informal partnership of organisations and groups working together to increase collective knowledge about bird distributions and populations.
• It supports listing and monitoring of birds in India

PRACTICE QUESTION:

With reference to ‘Bird Count India’, consider the following statements:

1. It works under the aegis of National Biodiversity Authority

2. It organizes the annual Great Backyard Bird Count event in India

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

                        B

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