The India BirdRaces

The first India BirdRaces event - the Mumbai BirdRace was held on Feb 27, 2005 where close to one hundred bird-watching enthusiasts in Mumbai – from absolute beginners to experienced birders came together for the first time to mark the start of a unique event in the annals of Indian bird-watching. Looking at the initial response and the promise that an activity such as this holds, it was decided to make the India BirdRaces into an annual event.

As an interesting aside, during the first event, in approximately 12 hours, 277 species of birds were sighted in and around Mumbai. This was almost a quarter of all the varieties of birds that have been sighted in India.

The following year, the second Mumbai BirdRace was held on Sunday - January 22, 2006 where the number of participants doubled even as the number of birds sighted rose by seven. Over the years the numbers of participants have only increased and the HSBC India BirdRaces have continued to attract armies of beginners to bird-watching as well as great numbers of children, school and college students.