Tuesday, January 25 2005 16:27 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: The eco tourism wing of Karnataka Tourism, Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) will be conducting the country's first ever Republic Day Bird Count, an informally structured census of birds spotted along marked trails in the wild, at Bandipur National Park this year.

A dawn to dusk activity, the Republic Day Bird Count will commence at 5.30 hrs (IST) tomorrow (Jan 26, 2005) at JLR's Bandipur Safari Lodge at Bandipur, Vinay Luthra, Managing Director JLR told sources today (Jan 25, 2005).

For JLR, RD Bird Count will be an annual event, which will bring together the birding community. "This year we plan to use the skills of eight main birders and 12 volunteers who will go on four well-marked trails in Bandipur", he said.

Through this, JLR aims to create awareness and interest among the public towards bird-watching and show the direct relation between this activity and conservation, Luthra said.

The Republic Day Count will be set on the lines of the famous Christmas Bird Count (CBC) held in USA, Canada and Latin America during the Christmas season, he said.

Way back, on Christmas Day in 1900, Ornithologist Frank Chapman, an early officer in the then budding Audubon Society proposed a new holiday tradition, a "Christmas Bird Census", that would count birds on holidays rather than hunt them. Little did he know that it would mark a holiday tradition for over 50,000 birders each year.

"We are hopeful the RD Bird Count will become as popular as the CBC. It will help to understand, appreciate and conserve wild birds and their habitats", Luthra added.

In the coming years, JLR plans to expand the RD Bird Count to many more areas in Karnataka and other States.