This Sunday, Coimbatore will have its 11th annual bird race

The bird race is an all-India event, held across multiple cities between December and March; teams of birdwatchers will spend the day recording as many species of birds as they can

Bird watchers of Coimbatore will come out in search of birds this Sunday (January 8), participating in the 11th Coimbatore Bird Race in and around the city. 

According to P. Pramod, Senior Principal Scientist of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), the organisation, along with the Salim Ali Naturalist Forum (SANF) are together organising this programme in partnership with HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited). The all-India coordinator for the India Bird Races is ‘The Yuhina Canopy’ in Mumbai.

The bird race has become a national event now, with the participation of several thousands of people across over a dozen Indian cities, between December and early March every year.

This is a dawn-to-dusk event, in which teams of bird watchers will spend an entire day spotting and identifying birds to record as many species of birds as possible. This is followed by an interactive get-together where all participants will share their experiences of the day with other teams and the coordinators.