Bharatpur. Ranganathittu. Chilika lake. These are some of the places that immediately come to my mind when I think of birding in India. But like I learnt this week, one need not make elaborate plans for birding in this country. Just pick up your photography gear and explore the wilderness in your city. You will be more than surprised by the avian fauna found in the greener part of the cities in India.
I recently picked up a birding lens just before heading home for Diwali. Eager to test the new lens out, I first went for an evening walk to Ekamra Kanan in Bhubaneswar. Right at the entrance, a white-throated kingfisher was perched on a railing overlooking a pond. Inside the park, I came across cattle egrets, Indian peafowls, black drongos, a pair of white-browed wagtails, and a pair of bronze-winged jacanas!
White-throated Kingfisher
Cattle Egret
Black Drongo
White-browed Wagtail
Indian Peafowl
Bronze-winged Jacana (female)
Bronze-winged Jacana (male)
The next couple of days, I went for morning walks in Chandrasekharpur area. The sheer variety of birds I came across within a 300 meter radius of my home left me pleasantly surprised. In just three days, I had spotted and captured purple-rumped sunbirds, Asian koels, black-hooded orioles, a brown-headed barbet, southern coucals, Asian pied starlings, oriental magpie robins, cattle egrets, black drongos, an ashy drongo, brahminy starlings, chestnut-tailed starlings, red-whiskered bulbuls, spotted doves, jungle babblers and common mynas. That’s almost as good as visiting a bird park.
Purple-rumped Sunbird (female)
Purple-rumped Sunbird (male)
Asian Koel (female)
Asian Koel (male)
Black Drongo
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Spotted Dove
Black-hooded Oriole
Asian Pied Starling
Brown-headed Barbet
Jungle Babbler
Common Myna
A Southern Coucal eating a snail
Ashy Drongo
Oriental Magpie Robin
Chestnut-tailed Starling
Brahminy Starling
Next, on a sunny afternoon at a farm in Chandaka forest, I was lucky enough to come across a colorful Indian roller and some green bee-eaters.
Indian Roller
Green Bee-eater
These are just the birds that I managed to capture with my camera. The list would be much longer if I included birds that I sighted but failed to capture. Bhubaneswar has definitely impressed and exceeded all my expectations in terms of birding. Chilika, Bhitarkanika and Mangalajodi wetlands are an integral part of Odisha wildlife and attract birders from all parts of the world. If you plan to visit any of these birding hotspots in Odisha, a stopover in Bhubaneswar, supplemented by its cultural heritage, should be a no-brainer.
Date: November 2018
Place: Bhubaneswar, Odisha
Sashikant Dash 
Sir I never expected that chestnut and brahminy starlings are also found in Bhubaneswar, I thought they are resident of southern and western India
Chestnut tailed u can find in bengal jharkhand bihar eastern up and some north eastern states as well. brahminy stralings can be found almost inn the entire indian subcontinent. for reference, you may use any decent birding field guide that provides habitat info as well. I personally use birds of the indian subcontinent by richard grimmett and Inskipp
I have also seen Cinammon bittern, Hawk cuckoo , Painted partidge, White breasted water hen, Purple Moor hen ( Kanjhia lake) many more….The more interesting things I have seen are Hoopoe, Orange bellied thrush, Flame back woodpecker
thats an exciting list if sightings. where did u sight cinamoom bittern, painted parttridge, and orange bellied thrush?