Checklist

The area under discussion is the Dehradun Valley and its neighbouring hills, starting with the River Ganga to the east and the River Yamuna to the west. This includes the highly productive wetland the Asan Barrage, near Paonta Sahib. The north encompasses the hills of Chakrata, Mussoorie and Dhaunalti. The south takes in the relevant portion of the Rajaji National Park.
This checklist has been based on various sources. BB Omaston was the first (1935) to do a systematic checklist of Dehradun and its adjourning hills. This checklist though detailed is now both outdated and quaint. Subsequently two local bird-watchers (based in the Forest Research Institute) produced sensible and detailed checklists. The first was D. Mohan's "Birds of New Forest, Dehra Dun, India" (1996) which was subsequently incorporated in AP Singh's (2000) excellent " Birds of lower Garhwal and neighboring hills". Another useful checklist published in 1994 was Pandey et al "Birds of the Rajaji National Park" All of the above three were published in the Forktail, the journal of the Oriental Bird Club.

The attached checklist is primarily based on the above but has drawn, as well, on the writings of other observers like R Fleming, Nitin Jamdar, SA Hussain ,Sudhir Vyas. First-hand reports of recent visitors like Bill Harvey, Nikhil Devasar, KB Singh, Mike Prince, Sumit Sen et al have also been incorporated. The compiler, who is a part time resident of Dehradun, has been birdwatching in the area for several years. This update owes a special debt to Arun P. Singh who kindly summarised the most recent new records for me.

A select bibliography is attached after the checklist. A detailed bibliography of the area is available with the compiler and he will be happy to provide it to those who may require it.

The old names are given in brackets ( ).

The compiler will be happy to discuss omissions, commissions, updates and corrections. Please correspond directly with Bikram Grewal at biks@vsnl.com
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