A bird count carried out at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) from February 16 to February 19 spotted around 55 bird species on campus.
Black-Hooded Oriole is believed to have been spotted for the first time in the university premises.
The campus bird count was a sub event of the larger Great Backyard Bird Count conducted by Environmental Research Foundation and Educational Academy (ERFEA).
Apart from Bamu, Himayat Bagh and a few other campuses were also covered during the bird count. The counts in other places recorded more than 40 species altogether.
The event aims to document bird life in various campuses as they often contain important habitats. Along with volunteers, students and citizens also took part in the event.
During the survey, many winter visitors such as Olive Backed Pipit, Verditer Flycatcher, Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher, Greenish Warbler, Booted Warbler, Blyths Reed Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and Sulphur Bellied Warbler were spotted by experts and amateurs.
Sighting Black Hooded Oriole on the university campus was one of the major highlights of the event.
Ameya Deshpande a volunteer for ERFEA said, “The bird spends much of its time in tree canopies and therefore is very difficult to spot. It feeds on insects and fruits.”
Spotting Ultramarine Flycatcher along with Mottled Wood Owl and Black Headed Cuckooshrike were some of the other rare sightings ERFEA recorded during the survey.
Great Backyard Bird Count is conducted worldwide every year in February. India has been actively participating since 2013.
The areas identified for survey support good variety of birds indicating a somewhat clean and healthy environment. ERFEA volunteers said a good tree cover along with presence of bushes and grasslands is must for rich bird population.