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Birds of Western
Ghats, Kokan and Malabar (including birds of Goa)
A century later, Dr Salim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley synthesised all that was known and published Handbook of Birds of India and Pakistan in 10 volumes between 1969 and 1974. This definitive work covers resident and migratory birds across the length and breadth of the subcontinent. It was now time to shift the focus to each biogeographic zone of India. This is where Satish Pande (also an amateur and a medical professional like Jerdon) joins the select band of pioneers emerging in this field, with his book Birds of the Western Ghats, Kokan and Malabar (including Birds of Goa), which hit the bookstores a few months ago. The title of the book may give the erroneous impression that inclusion of the birds of Goa was an afterthought. The truth is that this tiny, richly forested state, lying between the ocean and the crest of the Western Ghats, harbours 202 of the 580 birds found in this entire region. Pande and his three co-authors, presumably drawing inspiration from the Egyptian hieroglyphics, have described seven important characteristics of each bird (habitat, food, type of nest, time seen, social organisation, flight pattern, whether it is water bird/terrestrial/arboreal) using innovating symbols in just one line. All it takes is ten minutes to fully grasp the key to these symbols. The space so economised on each page is used for displaying 1700 photographs of the 580 species of birds covered by the book. In the last thirty pages, the authors (assisted by several experts) give you the essential ornithological knowledge. The vegetation and the avian geography of the Western Ghats are lucidly described. Both the brief history of the breakaway of the Indian subcontinent from Gondwanaland as well as how on linking up with the Asian landmass, we acquired the Indo-Chinese, Indo-Malayan and the Palaearctic avifauna is a fascinating learning experience. Pande discloses astonishing facts of birds’ physiology and anatomy. Imagine chicks communicating with each other from inside the eggshell to decide on the time to break the shell. And not just that, they break the eggshell with an egg tooth, which later gets lost in the process. The chapters on bird behaviour, history of Indian ornithology and depiction of birds in Indian archaeology are equally engrossing. The authors have consulted Sanskrit literature to establish evidence of Indian birds in ancient times. The book also feature birds on postage stamps issued from India and other countries. It is interesting to learn that Iranians are as much charmed by the hoopoe and Belgians by the Golden Oriole as we in India are. The book has used world-class illustrators like Carl D’ Silva and John Henry Dick among others. The photograph of the Nilgiri Flycatcher on the front cover is simply stunning. The sad part is that this bird is both endemic and "threatened," which means that we must shelter it all cost lest it goes the Dodo way. On the last page of the
book is a list of 140 nature lovers, who financed its publication. Were
the publishers unsure about the financial viability of a book authored
by amateurs? Were they aware of a cruel historical happening in this
discipline of publishing? When Major Jerdon passed away around 1878, his
estate was declared insolvent. Jerdon had personally financed the
publication of his three major books and had, therefore, unknowingly
invited bankruptcy. However, so far as I can judge this book, it should
sell very well. |
THE
history of avian literature in India began when Major T.C. Jerdon, a
surgeon in the Madras Presidency Army, wrote Birds of India in
three volumes in 1862-64. This book remained the basic reference for the
next one hundred years. Major Jerdon is justly called the
"father" of Indian ornithology. A civil bureaucrat and later
also the founder of the Indian National Congress, A.O. Hume, followed in
Jerdon’s wake and gained the sobriquet "Pope" of Indian
ornithology. Both of them were amateur ornithologists.