Spot the bird

WANT to know which migratory birds do your region host? Or perhaps, you want to check on the conservation status of a bird species.

The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has a website on avian ecology giving exactly this kind of information. The site, set up in collaboration with the environment ministry’s ENVIS centre, gives vernacular names of Indian birds, lists them by state and endemicity. One can also check if a species falls in any of the Schedules of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Unfortunately the database is not searchable; you have to scroll down the entire list. If you cannot find what you need, the website offers quite a few links to other websites and databases. Hopefully, BNHS will work on improving the rather uninspired layout which obscures useful information.