The IndiaBirdRaces
- Supported by HSBC
The
first India BirdRaces event - the HSBC
Mumbai BirdRace was held on Feb 27, 2005 where close to
one hundred bird-watching enthusiasts in Mumbai –
from absolute beginners to experienced birders came together
for the first time to mark the start of a unique event in
the annals of Indian bird-watching. Looking at the initial
response and the promise that an activity such as this holds,
it was decided to make the HSBC
IndiaBirdRaces into an annual event.
As an interesting aside, during the first event, in approximately
12 hours, 277 species of birds were sighted in and around
Mumbai. This was almost a quarter of all the varieties of
birds that have been sighted in the entire Indian region.
Perhaps it also deserves a mention that on the first HSBC
Mumbai BirdRace day, there were more than two and a half
times the numbers of bird species as there was the number
of participants. The following year, the second HSBC
Mumbai BirdRace was held on Sunday - January 22, 2006 where
the number of participants doubled even as the number of
birds sighted rose by seven.
