Last week, the ninth Karnataka Bird Festival was held at the Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary in Kollur, Udupi district. The sanctuary covers an area of over 370 square kilometres. With more than 300 bird species recorded in this district, it is designated as an important bird area in the country.
Karnataka, on the whole, is home to several hundred bird species. The Karnataka Ecotourism Development Board and Karnataka Forest Department have organised the festivals since 2015 with the goal of sensitising people about these species, encouraging birdwatching and reducing the pressure on tiger-centric tourism.
“We were taken aback by the number of birds we saw. They were so beautiful to watch,” says Reshma Rai, a Mangaluru-based bird enthusiast and a former hardware designer.
Apart from appreciating the beauty and diversity of the birds, the participants also observed their activities and food habits.
Over the course of the event this year, birdwatchers spotted a variety of species including the ashy drongo, racket-tailed drongo, purple sunbird, golden-fronted leafbird, kingfisher, yellow-browed bulbul, flame-throated bulbul, crimson-backed sunbird, orange minivet, small minivet, and the Malabar starling, among others.