Winged fancy

Birding is the latest fad among the young

Boasting around 1,250 of a total of 9,800 bird species found worldwide, India is an important bird-watching destination, especially for birders from the West who flock to the bird hot-spots across India by the thousands. Within the country, however, bird-watching is yet to take off. Oh, every Indian knows Salim Ali, but that's usually the extent of his or her knowledge of ornithology.

India has a number of wildlife/environment conservation organisations, many of which are also into bird-watching. The foremost among these is the 120-year-old Bombay Natural History Society, the organisation Ali made famous through his association with it. But there are others like the Prakriti Samsad and Junglees in Kolkata, Kalpavriksh in Pune and Delhi, the Gujarat Nature Conservation Society, Vidarbha Nature and Human Science Center, WWF-India, and more. Besides providing a meeting ground for serious bird-watching enthusiasts, or "birders" as they are called, they also guide amateurs in the scientific methods and promote the hobby among youngsters.

Why hasn't bird-watching caught on in the country as it has in the West? "It's a culture thing," says Sumit Sen, veteran birder who administers www.kolkatabirds, a hugely popular website for birders. "In the West, they have the knowledge, infrastructure and, most important, a community of people who understand birds, compare notes and share trails. In India, all the serious birding is done by people older than 50 years."

But not all is gloomy on this front. In the last decade or so, the country has witnessed a surge of interest in bird-watching, powered by the Internet which allows the birding community to share notes and trip reports, upload photographs, report finds, and generally network on a real-time basis, adding greatly to the thrill of the hunt.

You only have to look at the large number of websites and e-groups that have come up lately to spot this trend. Among the first and most active of these is delhibirds, also called the Northern India Bird Network, on Yahoo groups. Besides being an online forum for birders, delhibirds organises offline activities like bird-walks and field trips in areas adjoining the NCR, school trips, bird-banding and lectures on birding and other conservation matters. Founded by Nikhil Devasar, it now has 1,880 members "" a vast improvement, according to Devasar, from the time he began the group in 2000, when "you couldn't find anyone to go birding with".

There are a number of such region-specifics e-groups "" bengalbirds, bangalorebirds, nagpurbirds, birdsofGujarat, tamilbirds (set up only in October last year) to name a few. Then there are a few groups dedicated especially for bird photographs such as delhibirdpix and india-nature-pix. As for birding websites, there's www.kolkatabirds.com which Sen, an ex-banker, set up "for fun" in 2000. Today, he claims, it is the biggest site for birds in India, particularly in the east and the north-east.

Not all the excitement is on the web, there's a lot happening on the streets too. The HSBC India Bird Race is now into its third year, and going from strength to strength. Modelled on the Hong Kong Bird Race, the event in Mumbai last fortnight attracted 180 people who went bird-spotting from dawn to dusk. "Every year we see fresh faces wanting to participate," says Mandar Khandilkar, one of the organisers. The element of competition and adventure and the greater visibility it is beginning to enjoy will no doubt go a long way in spreading awareness about bird watching. The race is now held in five other cities "" Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur and Bangalore "" and the plan is to include Kolkata and other venues next year.

Then there is the birdwatchers' fair, being held for the past 10 years at the Man Sagar lake, to the north of Jaipur. Modelled on the Birding Fair held in Rutland Water in Leicestershire, this year's event, held on January 22-23, attracted around 3,000 people "" students largely, but also their teachers and parents. Organised by the Tourism and Wildlife Society of India, the event includes guided nature walks and lessons in bird-watching by experts of the Keoladeo National Park in bird habits and identification, quizzes about birds and other conservation competitions.

A similar initiative was begun in Tamil Nadu at the Gandhigram University near Dindigul last year. Organised by the Pallani Birdwatchers' Society, the second South Indian Bird Fair will be held from February 23-25 this year. It started, says Joe Homan, secretary of the Pallani Hills Birdwatchers' Society, as a move to get the younger people interesting in bird-watching and to foster a consciousness about the bird wealth in the area. Last year, a project done by students of the Chinnaya Vidyalaya and Secondary School on the birds of Dindigul made it to the state science congress and was invited to take part in the national science congress. Another participating college is conducting a survey of the many bird species around the Kamaraj Dam, trying to see how the avian population of the area has been affected by the changing environment.

Clearly, it is only by getting youngsters interested that bird-watching can gain ground in India. How to start

All you really need is a spark of interest and patience

You can start anywhere, in a park, your own backyard or the verandah

Get a pair of binoculars and a field guide to help recognise birds

Maintain a notebook to jot down the birds you have seen

Become a member of a bird-watchers' club

Books on the subject

Handbook of the Birds of India & Pakistan (compact edition, OUP, 1987) by Salim Ali with D Ripley

Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (Helm Identification Guides, 1998) by R Grimmet, Tim and Carol Inskipp

A Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives (Helm Identification Guides, 1999) by R Grimmet, Tim and Carol Inskipp

A Field Guide to Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Krys Karmierczak

Birds of South Asia (2 vol, Lynx Edicions, 2005) by Pamela C Rasmussen, John C Anderton

Equipment

"Look for binoculars that...provide a bright image to allow you to distinguish subtle features, particularly in dim light," recommends Audobon, the American birding site. Binoculars should also be easy to carry and pack, recommend birders. Generally, 8x25 does very well for beginners, while those looking for a better effect could go in for 10x50.

Hotspots for bird-watching

Sewri Bay

Khadakwasla Dam

Mahabaleshwar

For birding tours contact the Bombay Natural History Society

(www.bnhs.org)