Urban Birding Experience in Delhi NCR at Okhla Bird Sanctuary
Date: 01 February 2026
Location: Okhla Bird Sanctuary
Trail Leader: Dr Rajesh Kalra
Walk Coordinator: Salil Dutta
Trail Theme: Across Borders and Skies: Winter Migrants
Number of Participants: 21
Name of Participants: Lokesh Sarna, Cheingkhenganbi, Ankita Dhar, Abdul Haleem Sherif, Anurag Sharma, Shivani Wadehra, Manish Tripathi, Kartikey Tripathi, Dharmendra K Tripathi, Manoj Jain, Abhinav Dugar, Daksh Dugar, Sonam Dugar, Dr Satish Chetal, Manit, Jasmaira Kaur, Nishant, Gayatri Nair, Rohan Raman, Sudhindra Trivedi, Amrita Mathur
Okhla Bird Sanctuary is a landmark of urban biodiversity, which exists in the capital's heart city. The tragedy of this place lies in the fact that approximately 7 out of 10 people are unaware of its existence. To spread awareness about the bird sanctuary, Asian Adventures, in collaboration with Global Wildlife Fair, Uttar Pradesh Tourism, and Uttar Pradesh Eco Tourism, organised an Earth Walk here. For the group, which comprised a mix of nature enthusiasts, birders, and first-timers, there was no better way to start the month of February. The walk leader began with the history of the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. Spread across a patch of roughly 1.5 sq mil, the place came into existence with the construction of two key sites - the Agra Canal in 1874 and the Okhla Barrage in 1984. These constructions had converted the Yamuna River bank into a prime location for birding.
The congregation of birds in the area started garnering the attention of the people and the government. This led to the area finally receiving the title of an established sanctuary in 1990. Okhla has continued to grow ever since. It is also a recognised important bird site (IBA). He further explained how this area is a major site for the winter migrant birds as they choose this warmer spot to escape the harsh winters. Further, he explained the behavioural patterns and breeding season for these birds, making the walk an overall enriching experience. The highlight of the walk became tracing the sounds of the birds and stopping at a random point where the sound of a random bird became pretty loud. The group started tracing it with the cameras and the binoculars. After minutes of focusing and tracing, it turned out to be a red-breasted flycatcher hidden amongst the branches.
Overall, the walk turned out to be an enormous success, where people not just learnt about the migration patterns of various birds during winters but also learnt about how urban biodiversity gems can bring about an immense change in the existing ecosystem of the place.
Bird List
- Garganey
- Northern Shoveler
- Gadwall
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Indian Spot-billed Duck
- Northern Pintail
- Green-winged Teal
- Common Pochard
- Ferruginous Duck
- Tufted Duck
- Indian Peafowl
- Gray Francolin
- Rock Pigeon
- Oriental Turtle-Dove
- Eurasian Collared-Dove
- Laughing Dove
- Yellow-footed green-Pigeon
- Greater Coucal
- Eurasian Moorhen
- Eurasian Coot
- Gray-headed Swamphen
- White-breasted Waterhen
- Black-winged Stilt
- Red-wattled Lapwing
- Bronze-winged Jacana
- Common Sandpiper
- Wood Sandpiper
- Ruff
- Black-headed Gull
- Brown-headed Gull
- Whiskered Tern
- River Tern
- Little Grebe
- Oriental Darter
- Little Cormorant
- Great Cormorant
- Indian Cormorant
- Glossy Ibis
- Black-headed Ibis
- Red-naped Ibis
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Little Egret
- Indian Pond-Heron
- Eastern Cattle-Egret
- Great Egret
- Medium Egret
- Gray Heron
- Great White Pelican
- Shikra
- Spotted Owlet
- Indian Gray Hornbill
- Asian Green Bee-eater
- White-throated Kingfisher
- Coppersmith Barbet
- Brown-headed Barbet
- Black-rumped Flameback
- Peregrine Falcon
- Alexandrine Parakeet
- Rose-ringed Parakeet
- Black Drongo
- Rufous Treepie
- Common crow
- Common Tailorbird
- Plain Prinia
- Ashy Prinia
- Wire-tailed swallow
- Red-whiskered bulbul
- Red-vented bulbul
- Hume’s warbler
- Greenish warbler
- Yellow-eyed babbler
- Indian White-eye
- Jungle Babbler
- Indian Pied-Starling
- Common Myna
- Bank Myna
- Indian Robin
- Oriental Magpie-Robin
- Bluethroat
- Red-breasted Flycatcher
- Black Redstart
- Siberian Stonechat
- Pied Bushchat
- Purple Sunbird
- Indian Silverbell
- Scaly-breasted Munia
- House Sparrow
- Western Yellow Wagtail
- Citrine Wagtail