Over 240 species of birds have been identified in Mumbai with 183 avian species sighted in the city’s suburban pockets, in the results published by the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2026. According to birders, the highest bird count were recorded around the eastern suburb’s IIT Bombay campus and the Bhandup Pumping Station while the green belt around Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan (Byculla zoo) notably recorded the highest number of birds in the island city division. Earlier this year, the fourteenth edition of Great Backyard Bird Count was conducted between February 13 and 16 which ushered in 7,336 birders and experts across the country to identify bird species across 27,000 hotspots. The exercise was carried out under the umbrella of Great Backyard Bird count — a global effort — which ropes in birders, citizens as well as scientists across the country to collate knowledge about birds through systematic surveys, monitoring alongside informal mechanisms like casual birding.…