Delhi Ranks Second Globally in Capital Bird Diversity as New Atlas Lists 471 Species
The Delhi Bird Atlas, released on June 5, has established Delhi as the second-ranked national capital in the world for bird diversity, trailing only Nairobi. The atlas, which maps the distribution and abundance of bird species across the city, reveals that Delhi's bird list now stands at 471 species.
The atlas was prepared by Dr. Lynette Gomes, nodal officer of the Delhi Forest Department, Pankaj Gupta, state coordinator of Bird Count India, and Arnav Gupta. It was developed by the Delhi Forest Department, Bird Count India, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)-India, alongside partner organisations, birdwatchers, students, researchers, forest staff, and citizen volunteers.
According to the atlas, the 471 species figure excludes 22 species that have not been re-recorded since 1975. The high diversity is attributed to Delhi's unique geography, which includes the northern edge of the Aravallis, proximity to the western Himalayas, the Yamuna and Sahibi floodplains, and its location near the Central Asian Flyway.
The atlas covers 11 per cent of Delhi's area using a grid-based sampling design. For this, the city was divided into grids of 6.6 km by 6.6 km, which were further subdivided into smaller quadrants and subcells. A total of 145 randomly selected subcells were sampled. The survey, which began in January 2025, is conducted twice a year during winter and summer and is scheduled to run for at least two years.
During the first year of the survey, researchers recorded 221 species across Delhi, including 200 during the winter and 152 in the summer. This count comprised 126 resident species, 81 winter migrants, and 14 summer migrants.
In terms of feeding habits, nearly half of the recorded bird population consisted of invertebrate feeders, accounting for 108 species or 48.87 per cent. The remaining species included 37 plant and seed feeders, 34 omnivores, 33 vertebrate and carrion feeders, and nine fruit and nectar feeders.
The survey also documented 18 endemic bird species and several threatened species. Among these are the endangered Egyptian Vulture and Black-bellied Tern, the vulnerable River Tern and Common Pochard, and near-threatened species such as the Black-tailed Godwit, Ferruginous Duck, Painted Stork, Black-headed Ibis, and Oriental Darter.
