The Dusky Eagle Owl. (Express photo)

Three teams of the Chandigarh Bird Club Sunday observed 523 species of birds in the Inter State Chandigarh Region during the HSBC Annual Bird Race, 2020.

The Dusky Eagle was declared the bird of the day.

The bird race started from near Nagar Van and teams of birders dispatched in different directions including Timber Trail to Morni Hills, Chhatbir, Mirzapur dam, Siswan dam, Nepli and Kansal forests and the Sukhna Lake. Metinder Sekhon, President of CBC, said, “Team Black Baza observed 189 species, team Golden Eagle spotted 172 species and Team Falcon spotted 162 species. The first team observed the maximum number of species, which were 189 out of 523.”

General Secretary, Rima Dhillon, who supervised the bird race, said, “So many species, observed by all three teams, are common. A detailed list of all the birds with individual names will be compiled in the next two days. The list will also uploaded on the Ebird application.”

In the 2019 Bird Race, Southern Grey Shrike and Brown Bullfinch were declared as the birds of the day, after 209 species of birds were spotted. The Chandigarh Bird Club has been active in the city since 2008.