BirdNET AI · Cornell Lab · Sahyadri Foothills · Baner, Pune
Birds of Baner, Pune
Cornell Lab's BirdNET listens from two balconies on the edge of the Western Ghats — detecting species by their calls, day and night. Every detection logged with live AQI, weather, and ecological context.
Updated continuously · 228 species possible at these coordinates · BirdNET v2.4 · — species detected so far · Two sensor nodes: east balcony + south balcony (facing Baner Hill)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many bird species have been detected in Baner, Pune?
Earth Pulse has acoustically detected over 88 bird species in Baner, Pune using Cornell Lab's BirdNET AI. Detections come from two sensor nodes on the Sahyadri foothills, recording continuously day and night since 2025. The count updates automatically as new species are detected.
What birds can be found near Baner Hill, Pune?
Common species detected near Baner Hill include the Asian Koel, Red-vented Bulbul, Indian Robin, Ashy Prinia, Purple Sunbird, Common Myna, Black Drongo, Red-wattled Lapwing, and Greater Coucal. Migratory species like warblers, pipits, and flycatchers pass through seasonally.
When is the best time to hear birds in Baner, Pune?
Over 60% of bird detections in Baner occur during the dawn chorus between 5am and 8am IST. A secondary peak occurs between 5pm and 7pm. The monsoon season (June–September) brings the highest species diversity to Baner Hill.
How does Earth Pulse detect birds?
Earth Pulse uses Raspberry Pi computers running Cornell Lab's BirdNET AI v2.4 to continuously record and analyse audio from the Sahyadri foothills in Baner, Pune. Two microphones face east and south towards Baner Hill. Each detection is logged with confidence score, timestamp, AQI, and temperature.
What time does the dawn chorus start in Pune?
At Baner Hill, the dawn chorus typically begins between 5:15am and 5:45am IST, peaks around 6:00–6:30am, and tapers off by 8:00am. Exact timing shifts by 20–30 minutes between summer and winter as sunrise time changes.
How many bird species live in the Western Ghats?
The Western Ghats are a UNESCO World Heritage biodiversity hotspot home to over 500 bird species, including more than 30 species found nowhere else on Earth. Baner Hill sits at the eastern edge of the Sahyadri range and acts as a transition zone between Western Ghats forest birds and Pune's urban avifauna.
Can you identify birds by sound without seeing them?
Yes — acoustic AI tools like Cornell Lab's BirdNET identify bird species from their calls and songs alone, with no visual observation required. Earth Pulse uses this approach to detect birds continuously across day and night, including cryptic and nocturnal species rarely seen by human observers.
Are there owls and nocturnal birds on Baner Hill?
Yes — Earth Pulse monitors continuously overnight, capturing owl species, nightjars, and nocturnal migrants on Baner Hill. Select the "Night (9pm–4am)" filter above to see nocturnal species only.
Which birds are most active after rain on Baner Hill?
Earth Pulse cross-references Weather Union rainfall data with acoustic detections. Post-rain conditions at Baner Hill show measurably higher bird detection rates within 2–4 hours, particularly for ground-feeding species responding to increased invertebrate activity after rainfall.
What is the Shannon Diversity Index and why does Earth Pulse track it?
The Shannon Diversity Index (H') measures both species richness (how many species) and evenness (how evenly detections are spread across species). A higher H' indicates a healthier, more balanced bird community. Earth Pulse computes this live from all acoustic detections — when one species dominates, H' drops; when many species share the soundscape, H' rises. For Baner Hill with 88+ species, values above 3.0 indicate excellent diversity.
What is the Pulse Score and how does it relate to birds?
The Earth Pulse Score (0–100) combines air quality, bird activity, and clean air hours into a single weekly health metric for Baner. Higher bird detection counts contribute positively to the score, making it a proxy for ecological health. See the weekly score in our
weekly blog reports.
About the Bird Detection Data
Earth Pulse is a citizen science environmental observatory in Baner, Pune, Maharashtra, India — on the edge of the Sahyadri range of the Western Ghats. Two Raspberry Pi sensor nodes run Cornell Lab's BirdNET AI continuously, recording audio from balconies facing Baner Hill. Every bird call is analysed, identified to species level, and logged with confidence score, timestamp, AQI, and temperature. The dataset includes ecological metrics like the Shannon Diversity Index for assessing community health.
Birds of the Western Ghats — Baner, Pune
Baner sits at the biodiversity transition zone between the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot and Pune's urban landscape. Species commonly detected include the Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus), Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer), Indian Robin (Copsychus fulicatus), Ashy Prinia (Prinia socialis), Purple Sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus), Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus), and Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis). Migratory species pass through during winter (October–February) and monsoon (June–September). The acoustic dataset reveals that over 60% of detections occur during the dawn chorus (5–8am IST), with notable nocturnal activity from owls and nightjars.
Methodology & Ecological Metrics
BirdNET v2.4 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology identifies bird species from 5-second audio windows. Data is stored in a Supabase PostgreSQL database and updated in real time. Air quality data is sourced from Google Air Quality API and Open-Meteo CAMS. Weather data from Weather Union station ZWL008983. Species diversity is assessed using the Shannon Diversity Index (H') and Pielou's Evenness (J'), computed live from all detection data. These indices provide a quantitative measure of ecological community health at the Baner Hill site.
Explore More Bird Data
Discover patterns in Baner's bird life: dawn birds, nocturnal species, birds after rain, seasonal birds, and top species of Baner Hill. The hourly activity heatmap shows exactly when Baner Hill's soundscape peaks and quiets — data-driven evidence of the dawn chorus that birders have always known.