Best Places To Go Birding In Bangalore City-Watch The Most Exotic Species Of Birds

Birding simply means bird watching! The fast disappearing water bodies of Bangalore are home to various migrant birds from as far away as Siberia. Earlier Bangalore was a city of lakes, with a pleasant climate all year round. Birds that come from afar, come essentially for breeding and then fly back when the fledglings are ready to fly the long distance back home. Each season brings a different set of birds to the city and it is indeed a pleasure to go birding around the remaining lakes and open spaces such as parks (Lal Bagh), Bannerghatta National Park, and large campuses like Valley school and Jnana Bharathi (University).

If you like nature trails and are ready to wake up early to look out for some colorful birds, birding is for you. Photography clubs and birding pals meet up on Sundays at different birding locations in and around the city armed with sophisticated cameras and binoculars, ready to spend the first part of the morning watching mother nature at work. From sunrise to the myriad flowers in bloom to the chirping birds and butterflies flitting in and about the colorful flowers. Watching the big birds swooping down to catch fish from the lake is a spectacle that many capture on camera. Among birding groups, they compare the birds seen and keep a record of the different birds each season.

Hebbal Lake, Madiwala Lake, Yediyur Lake are among the prominent lakes known to attract large birds such as cranes for there are varieties of fish and also large trees on the islands of the lakes to build nests and lay eggs.

Nandi Hills is about 70 kilometers from Bangalore city near the International Airport and is home to several varieties of birds.

Lal Bagh is a large garden and a botanist's paradise. Some exotic varieties of birds have been sighted here.

Kokre Belur literally means Crane Belur(village name). The Siberian cranes wing their way from Siberia, every year and spend about five months in this village on trees that are short and almost the height of the village homes. Huge colorful birds with large wingspan make this their breeding ground and the noise and their droppings are an integral part of the otherwise quiet village.

Bannerghatta National Park is situated in South Bangalore and many bird watchers spot rare species of birds in different seasons.

The Annual Bird Race is an event that requires participants to team up for a day of frenzied activity trying to spot the most birds among the groups. This serves in increasing awareness about the rarest of birds as also keeping account of the city's birds.