India GOBirds of Delhi
House sparrow
Declared the state bird of Delhi in 2012 specifically to draw attention to its decline in the city. World Sparrow Day, on 20 March, was started in India.
Passer domesticus
Black kite
Delhi's kites are fed meat from rooftops around the old city, a practice with both Sufi and Hindu framings. The first year of the Delhi Bird Atlas, run by the Delhi Forest Department with Bird Count India from January 2025, recorded 221 species in the city. Delhi holds one of the densest urban kite populations anywhere.
Milvus migrans
Rose-ringed parakeet
The parrot on a shoulder is a stock image of Indian miniature painting and of the pet trade that once fed on it; trade in Indian parakeets is now illegal, and the birds you see are wild.
Psittacula krameri
Indian peafowl
The peacock feather is Krishna's own emblem, worn in his crown; the bird also carries Kartikeya and appears on temple carving across north India. It was declared India's national bird in 1963.
Pavo cristatus
Indian grey hornbill
One of the few large birds that has kept a foothold inside central Delhi, because the old tomb gardens still hold hollow trees for it to nest in.
Ocyceros birostris
Bar-headed goose
The rajhans of Sanskrit poetry, the swan-like bird said to separate milk from water, is usually taken to be this goose or a close relative, not a European swan.
Anser indicus
Painted stork
The breeding colony inside the Delhi Zoo is wild: the birds come in from outside to nest on the island trees, and have done so for decades.
Mycteria leucocephala
Rufous treepie
Treepies have learned the rhythm of monument opening hours; at Mughal sites they gather where visitors stop to eat.
Dendrocitta vagabunda
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