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It has been said that birds could exist without man but man would perish without birds. This observation is further amplified by a remark by Salim Ali, '' but for the trees the insects would perish, but for the insects the birds would perish, but for the birds the trees would perish and to follow the laws of Nature, but for the trees the world would perish". Salim Ali was an ornithologist and recipient of many national and international awards including Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Paul Getty award. Some of us may even know that his birth centenary starts from 12 November this year, the day he was born in 1896.


The legendary '' birdman '' has showed enormous zeal and commitment in opening up ornithology for the masses who might otherwise have gone through life seeing only fluttering shapes and colors. Thanks to his single handed contribution, we hav a small group of amateurs birdwatchers in India today.


We are ignorant of simple facts about birds and their role in our delicate ecological balance. For instance, what we generally call parrot is actually a parakeet - incidentally, parrots do not live in India - and the so called crane is an egret. There is nothing like a male or female peacock, in fact, male is called peacock and female is called peahen, the species is peafowl. Names apart, there is a widespread belief that the sight of an owl is a bad sign whereas owl is the most farmer friendly bird in controlling the devastating rodent pests. Well, there is no dearth of such myths.

Long time ago our ancestors have worshipped birds, animals and trees, and created an awareness about their role in ecology. Today we follow this custom without understanding it. On one hand we worship on the other hand we destroy or help destruction of the biodiversity. The first casuality is the birds as their habitat is destroyed. One of the spectacular events, the yearly migration...