Campus Bird Count held at St Aloysius College and AIMIT

MANGALURU: The four-day Campus Bird Count (CBC) event saw the identification of 32 species of birds on the campus of St Aloysius College in Mangaluru, and 60 species of birds on the campus of AIMIT, in Kotekar Beeri.


The birders recorded greater racket-tailed drongos, jungle mynas, common mynas, rock pigeons, purple rumped sunbirds, pale billed flowerpeckers, Asian koels, oriental magpie robins, and red whiskered bulbuls, on the both campuses.

The CBC is a coordinated effort and annual activity to document birdlife at multiple campuses across India. It’s part of the larger Great Backyard Bird Count hosted by Bird Count India, in collaboration with eBIRD, where several campuses of educational and training institutions, government institutions, research stations, and corporate campuses, participate in documenting the avian fauna, between February 17 to February 20.

St Aloysius College has been participating in this event since 2018. The 37 acre college campus, is situated in the heart of Mangaluru. CBC was also conducted at the 17-acre St Aloysius Institute of Management and Information Technology (AIMIT), near Kotekar Beeri, in addition to the main campus.

Campus Bird Count 2023 was organised by the department of zoology. The campus bird count team was led by Glavin Thomas Rodrigues, assistant professor, Kiran Vati K, lecturer, and Hemachandra, associate professor and HoD, and others. The survey was completed by 36 students from both campuses.

According to the team, large predatory birds, such as the black kite and brahminy kite, which often perch on campus buildings, could be seen in large numbers. Migratory species, including the Indian paradise flycatcher, Indian golden oriole, baya weaver bird, blue tailed bee eater, and chestnut tailed starlings, were also observed. In addition, birds including the Nilgiri Flowerpecker, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Brown Breasted Flycatcher, Oriental Honey Bazzard, Red Wattled Lapwing, Golden Fronted Leafbird, Eurasian Hoopoe, and Orange-headed Thrush were spotted on the AIMIT Campus.

The AIMIT campus was listed as an eBird hotspot in 2022, with a count of 35 species, and this year’s CBC revealed the presence of 63 species. St Aloysius College, Mangaluru Campus, has an inventory of 58 species, with the addition of barn swallow, recorded for the first time during the CBC. Several different bird species had their nesting locations visible during the bird census.