Coimbatore Nature society (CNS) completed its sixth year with an event attended by 60 CNS members.

On the occasion of commemorating its sixth year and completing non-stop weekly Bird Watching trips, CNS has released an introductory booklet to the Birds of Coimbatore and has also released a quick reference leaflet (a handout) and a revised checklist to the Birds of Coimbatore Version 2.0.

CNS was started with an objective of observe, learn and appreciate nature. It has been conducting non-stop bird watching programs on every weekend since its inception (Sep 2012).

Every Sunday, the members carpool and visit various bird watching hotspots located in the vicinity of Coimbatore city. The birds seen in these trips are meticulously noted down and reported to online platforms like eBird and are being circulated within the group.

Apart from this, the members of Coimbatore nature society have conducted awareness sessions about birds and butterflies at various schools and colleges around Coimbatore. A Photography exhibition was conducted in Coimbatore Vizha 2015.

A checklist of Birds of Coimbatore in September 2015 comprising of about 321 species has been released. Coimbatore Nature Society along with CII-Young Indians released the book ‘Birds of Coimbatore’, during 2016 Coimbatore Vizha celebrations, which contained photographs, information about birdlife in Coimbatore and other information which might be of use to birdwatchers in Coimbatore.

CNS is a regular participant of Asian Waterfowl Census (AWC) since 2013 onwards. Its members also have been regular participants in Coimbatore HSBC Bird Races since 2013.

Introductory Booklet about the Birds of Coimbatore:

The introductory booklet about the birds of Coimbatore intends to introduce the most commonly seen birds in Coimbatore and its wetlands to the citizens of Coimbatore.

This booklet is targeted towards people who have an interest in birds and would like to know their names. This booklet of 24 pages, features about 72 of the most commonly seen birds in and around Coimbatore.

Apart from photos, the book contains a fair bit of information about birds and about bird watching. The booklet contains photos contributed by the best photographers of Coimbatore Nature Society.

For copies, please contact Mr Prakash +918248847207.

Revised Checklist:

Coimbatore Nature Society has released the revised checklist for the Birds of Coimbatore.

The previous version was also the basis of the Book “Birds of Coimbatore” released by the joint efforts of CII young Indians and Coimbatore Nature Society in January 2016.

The first version of the checklist featured about 321 birds. The revised version features 383 species of birds.

In summary, of 405 birds reported on and off eBird, we accept 383 birds for inclusion. From our old list, we have moved 5 species to reservation list for want of data. In total, we have 66 new additions to the list. 24 species are kept in reservation list as they do not have accompanying photos, field notes or for want of subsequent confirmations by others.

We wish to highlight the fact that, of the 66 new additions to the checklist of the Birds of Coimbatore, 22 species were first observed by members of Coimbatore Nature Society. The rest of the sightings, even though were reported by others, have been mostly been re-sighted and confirmed by CNS.

The major highlights are:

Bar-headed Goose
Great Crested Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Black Baza
Indian Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Slaty-legged crake
Watercock
Indian Thick-knee
Whimbrel
Terek Sandpiper
Spotted redshank
Yellow-legged Buttonquail
Painted Sandgrouse
Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
Sri Lanka Frogmouth
Blyth’s Swift
Oriental dwarf kingfisher
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Oriental Dollarbird
Amur Falcon
Eurasian Hobby
Southern Grey Shrike
Sykes’s Short-toed Lark
Sykes’s Lark
Common House-Martin
Broad-tailed Grassbird
Wynaad Laughingthrush
Blue-and-white flycatcher
Isabelline Wheatear