This story is from February 20, 2020

CBC on Mangalore University campus sights 103 species

Black Drongo, Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Common Iora, Green Wabler, Purple-Rumed Sunbird, Red-whiskered Bulbul, White-cheeked Barbet, Jungle Babbler and Plum headed parakeets were the common birds.
CBC on Mangalore University campus sights 103 species
MANGALURU: Campus bird count (CBC), a sub-event of 'Great backyard bird count' (GBBC) that Bird Count India has been organising for past 5-years ended up with the sightings of 103 species of birds from various locations across Mangalagangothri campus of Mangalore University spread over 300 acres. Mangalore University has been participating in this event for past 5-years and was held from February 14 to 17 across various campuses in India.
Black Drongo, Black Kite, Brahminy Kite, Common Iora, Green Wabler, Purple-Rumed Sunbird, Red-whiskered Bulbul, White-cheeked Barbet, Jungle Babbler and Plum headed parakeets were the common birds.
House crow with nest and nestlings, Indian Robin nest with eggs, Bronzed Drongo constructing the nest and Shikra mating and carrying nesting materials, were some of the birds that were observed as part of the campus bird count.
Vivek Hasyagar from department of applied zoology and Maxim Rodrigues from department of marine geology who coordinated the event said in 2016, Mangalore University's CBC recorded 77 species, in 2017 it was 95 species, in 2018 110 species and in 2019 107 species. Some common species like Rose Ringed Oarakeets, Blue tailed bee-eater, Nilgiri flowerpecker and Indian roller and so on that were sighted last year were not seen this year.
With two new additions from this CBC, checklist of university campus has been updated with a total of 141 species. Whereas Yellow-billed babbler is rare on the campus, Ashy Drongo, Barn Swallow, Booted Eagle, Grey Wagtail, Indian Pitta were migratory birds, Grey-headed Bulbul, Rufous Babbler and Grey-headed Bulbul were Western Ghats endemics and Brown Wood Owl, Barn Owl, Spotted Owlet, Nightjars and Sri Lanka Frogmouth are nocturnal birds.
Blue-eared Kingfisher Grey-bellied Cuckoo which was very rare and new additions to avian list of the campus. Survey trails were led by more than 60 students and research scholars from various departments of Mangalore University includes applied zoology, biosciences, microbiology, botany, physics, chemistry and material science. In addition, some enthusiastic participants from St Aloysius College were involved in identifying the birds around the campus.

Wild/planned fire affects negatively on the existing ecologically sensitive areas in and around the campus especially in lateritic grasslands. Because many insectivorous birds are dependent on these lateritic grassland habitats for their food and breeding grounds for many ground dwelling birds like Yellow Wattled lapwing, Red Wattled lapwing, Indian Robin and Barred buttonquails. Conserving these habitats will be helpful in protecting these birds, an organiser said.
CBC at Mangalore University was an experience of its own kind. Observing birds in their natural habitat gave me new perspective of viewing them not only as another living being, but as equals, or even of higher intelligence. CBC is an important step towards documenting bird life year after year, and creating awareness amongst youngsters, so that proper conservation steps can be taken to protect them from human interference, Jyotsna Dessai, I MSc zoology student, said.
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