Bird Podcast

The sex of a bird – whether it is male or female – is one of the most critical aspects of its biology. Males and females often behave differently, especially during the breeding season, and in many species, they have strikingly different plumages. This episode features Dr. Hamish Spencer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Otago in southern New Zealand. Hamish was recently in Colombia, where he was shown a bird that violated these rules. Colombian ornithologist John Murillo had discovered a very unusual Green Honeycreeper (Chlorophanes spiza) on his farm near Manizales in Colombia and pointed it out to Hamish when he visited early in 2023. The bird exhibited aqua-blue male plumage on its right and grass-green female plumage on its left. The bird's head showed the black hood of a typical male on the right, but the left side was mostly green. This episode discusses this bizarre phenomenon, known as bilateral gynandromorphy. How did it affect this particular bird? How does it arise? How common is it? Which species has it been observed in? The article reporting this find has colour photos taken by John Murillo and is available at https://journal.afonet.org/vol94/iss4/art12/ John Murillo's video can be seen at https://figshare.com/articles/media/DSCN2268_MOV/23739894  

  When a pigeon comes into the house. This is a controversial episode.  In fact, I am pretty sure nobody in the nature groups that I am part of will approve of this.  In fact, they may even condemn this episode.  Because you see, it is about pigeons, which birders call flying pests. But here's what happened and so, if you listen or watch this episode, advance apologies.  About six months ago, a rock pigeon made a nest in my mother-in-law's balcony. This episode is about the ripple effects after that. One day, I returned after a long trip and visited my mother-in-law who lives in a separate apartment in my building to discover that a pigeon had laid two eggs on a chair that she uses to sit on in her balcony.  My mother in law was quite delighted with this development.  She lives alone and having a living creature inhabit her home gave her a lot of pleasure.  The problem is that these feral pigeons– rock doves– are carriers of disease. Bird Podcast is one of the Top 20 science podcasts in India per Feedspot.  

Here is a special episode about how different Bangalore birding experts got into birding.

This episode is about Bhutan: carbon-negative, Buddhist and a pioneer in sustainable tourism. This tiny country, about the size of Switzerland contains 774 species.  In comparison, neighbouring India— nearly ten times the size— has just 1200 species. Here we talk to Namgay Tshering a freelance birding guide about the birds of Bhutan.  Specifically he mentions the Beautiful Nuthatch, the Blyth's tragopan, the Himalayan Monal and others.  He talks about how Eastern and Southern Bhutan are a haven for birdwatchers, perhaps because the main cities of Paro, Thimphu and Punakha are far from these locales.  Watch this episode on Youtube for visuals of Bhutan.   

In this episode, we talk to a resident naturalist about the motmots, hummingbirds and toucanets that you can see in Costa Rica.  

Delhi and its neighbourhoods, with its variety of habitats and landscapes, is remarkable for the wealth and diversity of its avifauna. It is a true haven for bird lovers, home to an astonishing array of over 470 captivating bird species. Get ready for an enchanting adventure with Sudhir Vyas's delightful book, "The Birds of the Delhi Area," which is the ultimate guide to unlocking the secrets of these feathered wonders! This book has been edited by Anita Mani under Indian Pitta- India's first imprint dedicated to birds. With over 50 years of bird watching experience, Sudhir Vyas, a former career diplomat, possesses an intimate understanding of Delhi's avian inhabitants. His expertise shines through numerous articles and studies on ornithology in the Delhi area.  An invaluable resource for the rapidly growing community of bird watchers in Delhi and beyond, it explores the diverse avifauna of the region.  Accompanying Vyas's words are the breathtaking photographs of by a number of bird photographers, including by Amit Sharma, a passionate wildlife and bird photographer, whose images comprise the bulk of the pictures that illustrate the book and bring the birds and their varied habitats to life.

This is the first of three episodes about the bird life in Costa Rica. This one focuses on the three-wattled bell-bird and the episode is set in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.   Listen to the bellbird on Youtube here. Meet One Of The Loudest Birds In The World (Three-wattled Bellbird)   Thanks to these photographers for their images https://unsplash.com/@zmachacek https://unsplash.com/@feiffert   Thanks to Michael Brooks for this video of the bird calling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js9rqJZ_a-8&list=PPSV   Featured image from Wikimedia Commons Procnias_tricarunculata_-Costa_Rica_-male-8.jpg: Ryan Kozie  

About Aasheesh Pittie's book of essays, The Living Air. If you're looking for new ways to engage with birds and birdwatching, Aasheesh Pittie's book of essays, The Living Air is a great place to start. This book will not only make you want to get out and observe your city and surroundings in a whole new light, but it will also offer a fresh perspective into what birdwatching is and the many ways you can benefit from it. Informative yet a joy to read, The Living Air is an excellent introduction to the transformative pleasures of birdwatching. The Indian Pitta Books is India's first dedicated book imprint for bird lovers, conservationists and policy makers.     Bio Aasheesh Pittie is the editor of the ornithological journal Indian BIRDS. He has been the engine behind books such as Birds in Books: Three Hundred Years of South Asian Ornithology (2010), and The Written Bird: Birds in Books 2 (2022). Aasheesh has also compiled a searchable bibliographic database of over 35,000 works on South Asian ornithology (southasiaornith.in).  Questions: For those who haven't read it, what are the themes in your book Your book begins with the Jerdon's Courser and the Great Indian Bustard.  You are lucky to have seen them.  Can you describe this?  Your book encourages absorption in bird watching.  Were you always this way? What was your evolution as a bird watcher? I loved your chapter, “My kind of birding.”  That paragraph about the art of becoming invisible….”  Please describe your kind of birding, your thoughts on cultivation of patience and its rewards. What are the rewards? And how can you cultivate this mindset.   Dabchicks. How can they absorb you for hours? How can you teach this.  ‘Disappearing Dabchicks'. It describes his visit to a local pond, where Aasheesh became entranced by these gloriously ball-like waterbirds and before he knew it, the ‘sun was balanced on the horizon … the disporting Dabchicks had engrossed me for three hours'. In your chapter on the bouquet of Benishaan, you write that “the character of a place, its ambience, takes on the sheen of the temporal moods and perceptions of the observer.” Please elaborate.  The context is that many of the places you describe are in South India, but since our audience is global, wanted some takeaways for them as well.  So if you live in a particular place, be in Northern Europe or South America, how can you approach birding in the Aasheesh Pittie way. Tell us about your methodical and elaborate list process- now available on ebird.  But please describe how you kept notes and the value of those notes? What was your writing process for this book? And how do you know so many specific but unusual words? “but remaining with it through the quiddity of its habitat…” What is your birding routine? What issues absorb you these days? What are your favourite species of birds?  

In Episode 35, Dr. Gopi Sundar paints a hopeful picture of cranes and waterbirds coexisting with humans. In this episode we delve into these amazing bird species. Both storks and cranes are wading birds.  They dwell in similar habitats and look similar.  They have long legs and a long, curving neck. However, these birds belong to separate orders and families and aren't closely related to each other at all. In this episode we look at cranes and storks. Featured Image: Syed Ahmad from Unsplash.  

In this episode, we are talking about how we know what we know about bird migration.  Our guest, Rebecca Heisman describes herself on her website, as a “bird writer for hire.” Her first book, flight path has the following subtitle: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration. This episode is as much about people as it is about birds.  

This episode is about the wonder of feathers.  Salim Ali said that birds were “feathered bipeds.” This episode explores how feathers are marvellously adaptive to suit birds and species.  Our guest is Esha Munshi who co-founded the Feather Library, a digital project documenting feathers. Esha read a quote from this book on feathers. Episode artwork: David Clode/Unsplash   From the Feather Library website A feather lying on the ground could have belonged to any number of species of birds. The type of feather, the colour, the pattern, the markings all tell a story on how to try and identify the owner. Our founding member (Esha Munshi) came up with an idea that if we could compare the feather to an existing database it would help narrow down the options and even help pinpoint the species of the bird. But no such database is in existence for Indian bird species. In Gujarat alone we have more than 500 bird species. Trying to identify a bird based on just the feather seemed like a daunting task. So it was decided that we would try to record and document as many species as we can. It started with collecting feather samples from Road kills and photographing the feathers. All feathers were counted, measured and photographed. Species details were noted down along with the location. Our co-founding member (Sherwin Everett) works at an avian hospital in Ahmedabad. The hospital receives around 1500-2000 birds per month, mostly being pigeons, kites and crows along with a fewer other common and some rare species. A number of the birds succumb to their injuries and stress, after which their bodies are discarded to the local corporation for disposal. This was a colossal pool of data just going to waste, literally. This is the first website for documenting, identification and study of Indian Birds' flight feathers in India and one of its kind in the World. A website by the name of www.featherlibrary.com has been setup as the database for the documented feathers. It is open for all and with easy access to feather plates, data regarding the species, wingspan, number of feathers, various other measurements and location of the bird. This will be useful for ornithologists, Forest department staff,  researchers, seasoned bird watchers and even creating an interest in budding birders. The main aim is to have all of this data under one roof. Our long term goal is to expand and gradually cover all of India.   

Photographing birds across continents. In this episode, we interview His Excellency Jacques Pitteloud who happens to be the Swiss Ambassador to the United States.  Based in Washington, Ambassador Pitteloud is also a birdwatcher and bird photographer.  In 2021, Ambassador Pitteloud's photograph of a rare painted bunting that appeared in Maryland landed in the Washington Post prompting lots of excitement in the birding world. Later, the Washingtonian ran an article about him, titled, “The Guy Who Got That Photo of a Rare Painted Bunting? He's the Swiss Ambassador!” He posts his birding photos on his Facebook page. On that page, he posts nothing personal or political. Here he talks about how he developed this passion for birds and some of his favourite regions and birds.   Episode highlights 12:45: his views on the “big year of birding.” 13:45: his view on the different species of bird watchers. 15:00: he talks about two anecdotes in Africa– Kenya.  About finding the blue-headed beeeater and the Mackinder's Eagle Owl. 18:00 mountain passes where you can see raptor migrations. He talks about Chicago's Magic Hedge in the middle of the city where migratory birds especially warblers (thousands of them) congregate in early May before crossing the Great Lakes.   19:30 about the Connecticut warbler and warbler identification. 21:15 the apps that he uses to identify birds. 22:00 Is there a link between birding and diplomacy? “Birding is the new golfing.” 24:15: what photographic equipment does he use.  He uses Canon. 600mm F4 lens.  Camera is D90.  With 500mm lenses he shoots handheld. With the 600mm he uses a tripod. 26:00 his favourite birds.  Raptors.  How they move differently.   27:15 about his Indian Facebook friends.  

In this episode, we highlight conservation experiments that are interesting and have worked. We have chosen three experiments from previous episodes. Our hope is that you will go back and listen or watch sections of these episodes because they are worth your time. The first conservation plan that worked comes from Episode 50 where we interviewed Professor Yossi Leshem of Israel. He is a bird migration specialist and worked with the Israeli armed forces to help prevent bird and aircraft collisions. The way he did this was by mapping the migration routes of large birds, such as pelicans, storks, and raptors. The fact is that 1 billion birds migrate through Israel each year.  Go to 1:30 to listen to about ten minutes of this fascinating episode to see how the Israeli defense forces prevents bird and aircraft collisions. The second episode that we highlight is Episode 14 where we interviewed Chris Wood, who is in charge of the ebird program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Chris talks about how the Nature Conservancy (an NGO) adopted an ingenious programme in which the rented the rice fields from the farmers who populate the Central Valley of California in order to make their fields available for migrating birds. Go to 42:42 to listen to about ten minutes of this fascinating episode. The third episode that we highlight is Episode 13 where we interviewed Sy Montgomery about how California condors were saved from extinction. This was done through a political action plan where the use of lead bullets was banned and copper bullets were used in their place. Go to 9:00 to listen to about ten minutes of this fascinating episode. And lastly, we asked you to go back to watch Episode 29 where millions of migrating Amur falcons are saved through a magnificent community conservation effort Featured Image: Julia Craice/Unsplash  

Beverly and Anders Gyllenhaal are veteran journalists and birdwatchers. They ran newsrooms, assigned features and wrote books.  They publish a website called FlyingLessons.US: What We're Learning from the Birds,'' and are here with us to speak about their new book, “A Wing and a Prayer: the race to save our vanishing birds. Questions: What is the thesis of your book Your book begins with a sparrow and a woodpecker.  Tell us about that. One third of the birds have disappeared from North America. Shocking statistics.  Discussion The bald eagles resurgence in North America.  Do you think this has to do with size and resonance as the nation's symbol? Scrub jays symbolise the balance between human development and endemic birds.  How does this play out? Using sound to protect a storied species: california spotted owl. Cerulean warblers in Ecuador. Talk about the Choco Corridor and multiple countries that need to work together Hawaii is the extinction capital of the world.  Why? And How can this change? The red cockaded woodpecker and the US military. Coexisting with birds Outline some case studies of getting this done. Making a case for birds.    

In this episode, we talk to Noah Strycker. Noah is the Associate Editor for Birding Magazine and author of several popular books about birds. He set a world record in 2015 by finding more than 6,000 species of birds in one calendar year. 6,042 species to be precise. Noah has made more than 70 expeditions to Antarctica and the high Arctic, literally spreading the joy of birds from pole to pole. In this episode, we talk about the countries he has visited, the species that he has seen, what he learned from his big year of birding, the equipment he carries and how to replicate this exercise should you want to. You can connect with Noah via his website: https://noahstrycker.com/    

This episode is set in Hadinaru Kere, a lake outside Mysore in India.  In the winter, the lake attracts a number of migratory birds.  Some 85 species have been recorded in March 2023.  This episode talks about the black-tailed godwit.  

A conversation with the author of “Where Song Began.” In this episode, we talk to author Tim Low, whose book, “Where Song Began” has been credited with turning the map upside down in terms of ornithology's Northern hemisphere bias.  Tim proves that the world's cleverest birds originated in Australia.  Tim Low is an award winning author, biologist, consultant and speaker.  You can read more about him at his website, Timlow.com In this episode, Tim Low discusses Australian birds and what makes them unique. 

In episode 28, we spoke to Dr. Samira Agnihotri about bird song and how the Solega tribals interacted so closely with the forest around them. This episode is about a recent visit to the BR Hills.  It talks about how humans and wildlife can live together in the forest.  Listen andWatch how the Solega tribals live and worship a Magnolia champaka tree or a Sampige tree as part of their culture.

This episode is about demoiselle cranes congregating in a village in India. Last month, on a trip to Rajasthan, I visited the village of Kheechan.  To get here, you have to fly to Jodhpur and drive two hours North.  The thing about this place is that every winter, some 20,000 Demoiselle cranes congregate here because they are fed morning and night with grains or jowar.  In this episode we explore the Demoiselle cranes that migrate to a Jain village in Western Rajasthan.  These are the smallest cranes among the 15 species of cranes in the world.  What's interesting is the attachment that they have with the villagers of Kheechan.  Here, they have a daily routine.  Read about how a community feeds the cranes here.  And read about sacred spaces called orans here. From here: “Demoiselle cranes have to take one of the toughest migrations in the world. In late August through September, they gather in flocks of up to 400 individuals and prepare for their flight to their winter range. During their migratory flight south, demoiselles fly like all cranes, with their head and neck straight forward and their feet and legs straight behind, reaching altitudes of 16, 000 – 26, 000 m. Along their arduous journey they have to cross the Himalayan mountains to get to their over-wintering grounds in India. Many die from fatigue, hunger and predation from golden eagles. Simpler, lower routes are possible, such as crossing the range via the Khyber Pass. However, their presently preferred route has been hard-wired by countless cycles of migration. At their wintering grounds, demoiselles have been observed flocking with common cranes, their combined totals reaching up to 20, 000 individuals. Demoiselles maintain separate social groups within the larger flock. In March and April, they begin their long spring journey back to their northern nesting grounds. They are part of Indian lore and legend.  The crane formation was part of the Mahabharata.  Valmiki composed the Ramayana when he saw a hunter kill cranes that were occupied in a mating dance.  

Our first episode was about the Great Indian Bustard. The logo of the Bird Podcast is the Great Indian Bustard or GIB as it is called.  Salim Ali wanted this bird to be India's national bird for three reasons: it is indigenous to India, it is a large and charismatic bird, and it deserves protection because its numbers were dwindling, even in the 1950s when Ali made his plea. Instead the peacock won out.  Then, as now, the fate of the bustard hangs in balance.  Will we save the bustard?  The biggest problem for bustards: the powerlines that criss-cross the desert landscape.  Locals hate them because they are ugly.  Bustards cannot see them because their frontal vision is poor.  In October 2022, yet another bustard was killed because it flew into a power transmission line, prompting wildlife organizations such as the Bombay Natural History Society or BNHS to once again petition the government to lay these lines underground.   In 2017, when we interviewed forest officials in Desert National Park, there were 150 birds.  Today too, there are 150 birds.  So while the numbers haven't risen, they haven't dropped either. There are 128 in Rajasthan's desert regions, less than 10 in Gujarat and Maharashtra, and 16 chicks being raised in Sudashri incubation centre in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan government has launched a project to save the bustard. Bird Podcast sincerely hopes that this will be successful.

This episode gives a glimpse into the birds of Australia, told through the eyes of Franck Masna, an aboriginal elder who tells us the story of how birds got their colours and also through the eyes of Michael Simmons who runs Tweed Escapes to show tourists the sights and sounds of the Tweed River in Australia. This video is about the Tweed Valley, New South Wales, about an hour by flight from Sydney.   When people think of Australian birds, they commonly think of emus, parrots and maybe the Southern Cassowary.  But the country-continent 850 species of birds, 45% of them not found anywhere else.  Some spectacular species include the giant Southern Cassowary where fathers incubate the eggs, the tawny frogmouth- a master of disguise, the barking owl, the rainbow lorikeet, the superb and the splendid fairy-wren, which are beautiful blue birds, the laughing kookaburra which is the basis of a song that we learned as children even here in India, and a whole variety of parrots.  In fact, early Dutch explorers called this land Terra Psitticora or Land  of the parrots.   Did you know that pretty much all songbirds and 60% of all bird species originated in Australia.  In fact, Australian scientists often talk about how much of a "Northern Hemisphere" bias ornithology has.  In future episodes, we hope to interview experts from Australia but for now, here is a teaser episode in which I interview two folks from the Tweed River.

This is a story about a wood stork called Flinthead.  He lived with his partner in Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida.  The wood stork couple depended on the wetlands in Florida for not just their survival but also to bring up their babies.  This is a post-episode trailer of Episode 5 where I interviewed Dr. Jerry Jackson. Even though the audio isn't perfect, Episode 5 is worth listening to because he covers so much ground. Ecology, wood storks, wetlands, anhingas, and much more. Here I focus on one aspect of that episode: wood storks  

This episode is about wetlands.  This is a post-episode trailer of Episode 5 where I interviewed Dr. Jerry Jackson. Even though the audio isn't perfect, Episode 5 is worth listening to because he covers so much ground. Ecology, wood storks, wetlands, anhingas, and much more. Here I focus on one aspect of that episode: wetlands What is the feeling that you get when I say these words? Swamps, marshes, bogs, mangroves, flood plains.  If you didn't wince, good for you.  Humans seem fundamentally averse to wetland because we think of them as a breeding ground for insects– which they are.  But they are also the most diverse ecosystem there is. And for this reason, they are supremely important. There are three things every wetland needs: hydric soil, which is the scientific term for soil that is submerged in water for long periods of time.  Which results in oxygen-less soil in the upper part, which in turn causes a particular type of plant species called hydrophytes to grow.  These aquatic plants like water lilies and sedges create their own unique ecosystem– called wetlands. In Episode 5, Dr. Jerry Jackson has a simple term for wetlands.  Wetlands are wet land.  They are not ponds, or lakes.  They are lands that get submerged in water.  Wetlands are huge in ecology.  In fact, we have a particular organization called Ramsar that focuses on important wetlands all over the world.   Wetlands occur everywhere except in one continent.  Guess which one? I'll give you a hint.  Which is the continent where nothing can stay wet?  Where is the biggest wetland? All this and more in this episode.  

In this episode, we have Professor Yossi Leshem from Israel joining us to discuss several things: tracking migratory storks with GPS, working with barn owls as pest control agents, regional cooperation, reducing aircraft collisions, and working with defense forces.  Dr. Leshem has won countless awards and is Professor Emeritus at the School of Zoology at Tel Aviv University and is the founder of the International Center for the Study of Bird Migration. 

Post Episode Trailers are short episodes in which I highlight an earlier episode that is worth watching. This episode is about Episode 12 of The Bird Podcast in which author and migration expert, Scott Weidensaul talks about the amazing feats that birds do in order to migrate.

In which we go behind the scenes to see the fascinating aspects of the bird specimen collection of one of America's most well-respected museums. You really should watch this episode on our Youtube page (Bird Podcast) or our Instagram feed (bird_podcast), but in case you cannot, included here is also the audio only version.   In this episode, Dr. Shultz shows us house finches, parrots, frigatebirds, penguins, condors, munias, whydahs and the many marvelous specimens in the Natural History Museum's collection. Allison Shultz is the assistant curator of ornithology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. In this fascinating episode, she takes us behind the scenes to show us the vast and varied collection of bird specimens at the museum.  Dr. Shultz , as you see in her website, has loved animals her whole life, and fell in love with birds during her undergraduate at UC Berkeley. She is a native Southern Californian, and loves the diversity of habitats (and birds!) available in a very small geographic area! She credits her artistic eye for first drawing her to studying bird coloration, but now that is one of her main fascinations.

Where she talks about how multiple nations and habitats need to cooperate to help these champion migrants. In this episode, Dr. Yaara Aharon-Rotman speaks about long distance migration, mainly among shorebirds but also passerines.  We have explored migratory shorebirds before in Episode 43.  Here, Dr. Rotman talks about how national borders don't apply to migrating birds and how we all need to cooperate to help them along.  Originally from Israel, Yaara has completed her PhD in Deakin University, Australia where she studied long distance migratory shorebirds. Inspired by the long migration of her studied species, she than joined research labs in Israel (to work on migratory passerines), China (where she worked on a vulnerable Asian habitat for migratory geese) and Australia, her current home where she study torpor in local and migratory species as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New England. Her main interest focuses on how animals, mainly migratory species, respond to challenges, and specifically, their physiological adaptation to global changes. If she is not looking for birds in the field or analysing data in her office, you can find her in one of the National Parks around Armidale with her family, or at the boxing ring!  

Interview with a filmmaker who won the L'oiel d'or or Golden Eye in Cannes for best documentary film in 2022. We have a different sort of guest for this episode: a filmmaker.  Shaunak Sen's film “All That Breathes” premiered at Sundance Festival, where it won the Grand Jury award and then won the L'Oeil d'Or (Golden Eye) for the best documentary at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.  You should really watch this episode in our Youtube Channel, Bird Podacast or our Instagram channel bird_podcast because we are playing clips from the film.  In this episode, director Shaunak Sen talks about human-animal relationships, and how the brothers are philosophers who wear their insights lightly. Questions: Tell us about the film? What made you decide to do this film? Are you a bird lover?  Speciestic difference is like jail.  What a line.  Do you believe that? How did you capture the birds close up? The kites, vultures, etc. The blackwinged stilt on the soapy river.  How did you get that? How did it feel to be near the injured kites? In interviews, you have talked about how these brothers have a ‘front row' seat of the apocalypse.   Why do the brothers do what they do?  About the film "The documentary talks about two brothers in a lower middle-class Delhi locality, who have made it their life's mission to save kites. These birds, which have been victims of the capital's debilitating air pollution, are rescued by the brothers, Mohammed Saud and Nadeem Shehzad, treated and set free once they are ready to fly again. These two are helped by an employee, Salik Rehman, and all of them have dedicated their lives to this enormously difficult rehabilitation venture. The work is a quiet effort to document in detail the brothers' patience and sacrifice. Carrying on in the face of punishing impediments, including lack of funds, Saud and Shehzad live in hope with a never-say-die attitude. There is an extremely touching scene when one of them goes to a meat shop and asks for a concession in price. It is not easy feeding kites, which are birds of prey. It may sound unbelievable but the brothers have been at it for two decades, struggling to get funds at home and from abroad. We learn as we watch the documentary that they feel taking care of kites and helping them to fly again by themselves are rewards. They love feeding the winged creatures, and the way they caress them establishing an undying bond is marvellously narrated by Sen. He also lets us into some tender moments as when one of the brothers in an autorickshaw takes out a baby squirrel from his shirt pocket, lovingly strokes it and puts it back. Such moments of compassion make the movie a great watch. The cost of this love is unimaginable; although Shehzad and Saud earn a living by manufacturing liquid-soap dispensers, they are much more interested in tending to kites, some 12 hours in a day, and these come at the cost of neglecting their families. In a telling scene, Shehzad and his wife are ruminating over Delhi's worsening air pollution. While she is thinking about their child, he is fixated on kites!"

Our guest today is the much-admired Bittu Sahgal.  Mention Mr. Sahgal and three words come up: Sanctuary, activism, and conservation.  He founded Sanctuary magazine in 1981. It morphed into Sanctuary Nature Foundation in 2001.  In these capacities, and in his role as the President of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mr. Sahgal knows the wildlife and ecology of Asia intimately.   Today, he suggested that we talk about avians to the rescue.  We are the Bird Podcast after all.   Links: Wonderful article about Salim Ali written by Bittu Sahgal here. Wikipedia on Bittu Sahgal Some thought-provoking images from the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography awards Sanctuary Nature Foundation Santuary Asia magazine   Questions:   3:00 How does protecting birds and their habitats help us deal with what you call an existential crisis?  He talks about climate change and small interventions.  He compares tigers with avians in terms of conservation.  “You save the forest. You save the species.”  Talks about nematodes in the soil, tics on the backs of the tigers, the whole ecosystem. 7:00 It is time that the tigers came down from the pedestal and birds need to go higher on the pedestal. 8:00 Birders as climate warriors.  Birds disperse seeds, maintain habitats. 9:30 Economists are realizing that the economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the biosphere. 10:20: There is an urgency to his mission.  Thanks to climate change, the economy is teetering on the brink of collapse.  Technology alone cannot help.  My loyalty is to the biosphere.  It is necessary for us now to go down to the minutiae. 11:40 He talks about Dr. Salim Ali 12:00 Talks about how birds are protectors of the infrastructure. 14:00 What is a magic wand that he would wave to influence.  He says that he would try to influence the brain between the two ears of human beings.  Nature is a simple economic principle.  If you undervalue an asset, you will lose it.  The time for fighting is over.  Self interest in protecting habitat comes from making sure that we use local communities to protect areas. 16:00 Can you walk us through how things have changed since you began Sanctuary Asia?  How things have go sharply downfill.  Forests dismembered.  Our power as environmental protectors has come down.  Biodiversity that you protect gives a chance for the local communities to benefit from tourism. 18:30 How tigers numbers going up is a facade. 18:55 There is no doubt that the biosphere will win this battle.  There is no doubt that we will make life difficult for ourselves.  The circle of life.  Logic is the same as the tiger.  Birds occupy vital habitats. 21:00 Last year, you delivered a keynote titled “To protect nature, start at home.” Can you elaborate on that for our viewers and listeners? In your instagram posts, you talk about preserving little areas of wilderness within the city.  What do you mean? Not golf courses, football fields.  If we want the city to be future ready, use one-third of what you have for real wilderness. 22:00 About the common Pipistrelle bat.   23:00 Humayun Abdul Ali.  When Indira Gandhi wanted to sent frog's legs to France, Mr. Ali's reply. Send frogs leg but ask them to give us medicines for malaria.  Humayun Ali got people to change using logic. Birds are protecting water.  Wetlands. 24:15 Favourite spot? He talks about Ranthambore being “home.” 25:00 How he loves Dachigam and the Dagwan river.  About the peace that comes. 26:00 I don't know whether to celebrate what exists or mourn what is going.  Talks about Kaziranga. 27:30  Protecting nature.  Start at home.  Gandhi quote.  The person who does nothing because he cannot do everything is the worst of the lot. 29:00 About his conversation with the Dalai Lama.  About monks carrying tiger bones inside their robes.  Belinda Wright.  Debbie Banks.  Exposed this.   32:00 What is the pleasure of birding for you? Human beings are soiling their own homes.  The need of the hour is to share your love of nature.  Join the BNHS.  Birders are going to be the saviors of this subcontinent.   34:00 Are you optimistic about the future? We think we are more clever than we really are.  We haven't learned to use our brains.  Like a baby elephant.  Darwin said, it is the most adaptable that will survive.  We haven't learned to adapt.  We want the environment to adapt to us. 37:37 He loves spiders.  Loves sparrows.  He talks about children being his main constituents.  Kids for Tigers.  The tiger is a metaphor for all of nature.  Protect trees, protect all that live in trees.  How to protect the powerful from consuming everything that there is in the buffet. 40:30  Haven't been to Ladakh.  Talks about his wish to go to Ladakh. 41:25: Message to birders   Formal Bio below: Bittu Sahgal is an environmental activist, writer and the founder of Sanctuary Nature Foundation, an Indian nonprofit conservation organization that works on environmental policy, advocacy, science, on-ground support and habitat management. He is also the founding editor of Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife and ecology magazine.  Besides the Sanctuary Asia and Cub magazines, Sahgal has published numerous works in both English and regional languages. He has authored coffee table books on wildlife, including a series on some of India's national parks and sanctuaries: The Bandhavgarh Inheritance, The Sundarbans Inheritance, The Bharatpur Inheritance, The Kaziranga Inheritance, The Corbett Inheritance and The Periyar Inheritance and a stand-alone, India Naturally. He also produced 30 wildlife documentaries.      

Our guest today is distinguished academic, author and ultra-marathoner, Dr. Bernd Heinrich.  He talks about owls, ravens, tree swallows, painted snipes, great horned owls, crows and much more.  This episode is about the various birds that Dr. Heinrich has encountered and why he enjoys them. Dr. Heinrich is a professor emeritus in the biology department at the University of Vermont and is the author of a number of books about nature writing and biology. Dr. Heinrich has made major contributions to the study of insect physiology and behavior, as well as bird behavior.   Here are some of the books mentioned in this episode. One Man's Owl Life Everlasting: The Animal Way of Death  A Naturalist at Large: The Best Essays of Bernd Heinrich The Homing Instinct: Meaning & Mystery in Animal Migration White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows Ravens in Winter Racing the Clock: Running Across a Lifetime Questions: Can ravens think, and how could you know? Ravens share food. Are they  altruistic? Why did you study tree swallows and what did you find out? Experiences with crows.  Do ravens have culture? (basically why live with humans or as in New England are hyper-shy) You studied woodpeckers, too. (It was flickers and sapsuckers- not top-notch science but fun!) Your father is famous for his birds and his wasps, too- tell us about that ! (His book. on the Snoring Bird and yours) Owl. You have had quite an experience with a Great horned owl. Your favorite bird aesthetically— woodcock display -turned on since a lid on the farm Golden-crowned kinglets? Fun discoveries/observations.   Anything else? Winter mixed-species flocks?

Today we are talking with Dr. Erica Nol of Ontario, Canada about challenges of the arctic-breeding shorebird.  Dr. Nol is a professor at Trent University in Canada.  Her research interests lie in the biology and conservation of shorebirds across many areas in Canada and beyond.  In particular, she studies the impacts of climate change on the habitats and life histories of arctic and subarctic breeding shorebirds.  

How to bird watch: Part 4. Last Part In which the author loops in some history and fables and talks about her habitat. Birds are the stuff of myth and legend in every culture. Some of the most beautiful poetic images come from birds. My father, an English professor, loved the Romantic poets: Keats, Shelley, and Wordsworth, who lived in the Yorkshire moors in close proximity to nature and wrote lyrical poems about what they saw. John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale," is one of his favorites. I have read the poem, but I don't really understand it. What speaks to me is Maya Angelou's "I know why the caged bird sings." The eagle is a singular image in Allama Iqbal's poetry. Iqbal reveres the eagle because it proudly disdains eating dead prey or anything other than what it has caught. As Mustansir Mir says in the website, allamaiqbal.com, this description might apply to a hawk rather than an eagle. Iqbal gets a number of bird facts wrong, but as this website points out, the eagle, for him, is a poetic construct. My favorite Urdu poem is a children's song sung by Nuzhat Abbas: “Bulbul ka bacchha. Khatha tha khichdi.” I used to listen to this ad nauseam years ago, and was delighted to discover it on YouTube recently. Sanskrit literature's most resonant bird image has to do with the Hamsa, which can separate milk and water that are mixed together in a bowl. The Hamsa is used as a reference in poetry for anyone that has the discrimination (or judgement) to simply suck up the milk and leave out the water. Then there was the practice of divination based on the movement of birds that was common to most primitive cultures. When the crows caw, my grandmother used to say, you will have unexpected guests: divining arrivals from the sound of a crow's caw. As K.N.Dave's magisterial (and sadly, posthumously published) book, "Birds in Sanskrit Literature," says, superstition surrounds the magpie, not only in India, but also in Europe and England. My tangential interest with respect to bird-watching has been to delve into poetry, but it could be something else for another birdwatcher. This ripple effect is a perk that comes from any deep dive into a hobby or passion; and clearly, I am pushing bird watching as an option. Everyone says that bird-watching requires patience. I don't think so. I think that the pleasure of bird watching comes from the questions you ask. You can watch a crow and try to figure out why it is cawing at that moment. You can listen to the variety of calls that a common mynah makes and try to see if there is a pattern. I watch the birds come and go in the trees in front of my home and see if there is a reason or pattern that they follow when they sit down and take off. I watch the way the parakeets spread their tail feathers just before landing and see the different shades of green. Most interesting of all are the birds that are sitting still. What are they doing? What are they thinking? Does their call predict something? Is the wind changing? Does that define when they take off and land? Bird watching for me is an engrossing and pleasurable hobby. It gives me great aesthetic joy to watch these most beautiful of God's creations. Then again, I see a butterfly and think it beautiful too. Oh, but there is the dragonfly with its transparent wings; and the honeybee that gives up its life for its colony. All waiting to connect with us.

In which the author talks about how to see. Ayurveda divides us into three phenotypes: vata, pitta and kapha. Vatas have acute hearing and enjoy the sense of touch— if my memory serves right. Pittas have acute vision and enjoy the sense of smell. Kaphas have acute taste and enjoy the sense of touch. As a classic vata, I have acute hearing, as a result of which I'm very sensitive to the sound of birds. As I write this, I hear three birds: a wagtail, a bulbul, and a parakeet. This can become a curse when I hear the sound of a bird that I cannot identify. I obsess about it and go to an app called "Bird Calls," that is loaded on my phone to try to figure it out. It has to do with a way of seeing that is cultivable but not necessarily common. If you have it; that's a gift. Some people can see owls just by walking past. The trick to quick identification is observing size and shape, colour patterns, behavior and habitat according to this website. I have still not cultivated this way of seeing yet. Mostly I stare at a tree where the bird-calls emanate from and wait for movement. I cannot drive by birds on telephone poles and quickly identify them. Where I score is with the sound. Once I hear and identify a bird by it call, I never forget it. Even now, I can wake up and listen to the trill of a Kingfisher calling at a distance and know that it is in my neighborhood. I know the rosy starlings who have migrated from Tajikistan by their excited cheep-cheeps; the bulbul, by its sweet piercing whistle that echoes around my building; and the wagtail by its loud call, unusual for a bird so small. My bird watching happens through the day. Usually, when I'm bored or have nothing to do, I pick up my binoculars and look out. Usually I see something. There was the time when it was raining. I trained my binoculars on a Ficus tree, and found a golden oriole perched on the top. It did the most amazing thing. It circled and went upside down on the branch, almost as if it wanted the rain to wet its underside. It had been a terribly hot day. As I stood in doors and watched the oriole enjoy the water drops, I felt like doing the same. In another branch, a black drongo (Dicurus macrocercus) sat perfectly sit, enduring the rain that was pouring on its black head. In the beginning, with blind ambition, I decided that I would memorize the Latin names for all the bird species that I saw. I have given up that endeavor now. It is complicated enough to keep track of the markings and learn the common names. This then is the other learning that will occur: spotting minor differences between birds that belong to the same species: white cheeked barbet, gray-headed barbet, coppersmith barbet, blue-throated barbet, you get the picture. They all belong to the Megalaima species. It doesn't come easy but I struggle at it anyways. Slowly and surely, like a tortoise, I'm climbing up the hill of taxonomy and nature watching.

Like most things that require identification, be it wine, textiles, or art, identifying birds is figuring out patterns; like recognizing an artistic or musical signature, or the terroir of wine.  It is about seeing patterns, not just on the birds but also on the trees that they inhabit. Nature is both generous and opportunistic. Trees attract birds during certain seasons; and then allow other trees to get that opportunity. The best thing that is happened to me as a result of this year-long journey is the cliché: I feel connected with the universe. Let me be clear. I don't think you wake up one morning and suddenly feel at one with the cosmos. It is a gradual process of shedding layers of armor that you have built around yourself. As I stand in the balcony every morning, gazing through my binoculars, feeling the warmth of the sun on my back and the wind on my skin, watching the dance of birds and the wave of leaves, I sniff the air and smile.  This precious, fragile planet that we are privileged to occupy has wondrous beings that are right in front for eyes if only we care to look.

Part 1 of 4. This episode addresses a question that every bird watcher hears at some point or other.  People who watch us stand still at balconies gazing skywards or at trees, peering through binoculars at walks, or getting excited by some random tiny green bird.  Some of us get this question from puzzled spouses or confused friends and the question in: What are you guys doing?

This episode is about the Upupa epops.

Today's guest, Anusha Shankar studies hummingbirds as a Rose Postdoctoral Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She has lived and worked on four continents and loves being an Indian woman in science. She is fascinated by hummingbirds' ability to use a hibernation-like state called torpor to save energy at night. She is investigating how they can get cold (10°C / 50°F) and rewarm safely every night, without damaging organs like their hearts and brains. During her PhD, Anusha captured hummingbird nightlife with infrared video, and before that tracked king cobras and studied giant birds—hornbills—in India. Anusha is also a National Geographic Explorer and Young Leader and loves mentoring students, dancing salsa, bachata, and swing, and reading fiction.

Our guest today is Dr. Gopi Sundar, who heads the international ecological journal, Waterbirds.  He is also a scientist in the cranes and wetlands program at the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) based in Udaipur.  Gopi has worked on waterbirds for over three decades, particularly on the Sarus Cranes of Uttar Pradesh.  In this episode, he talks about waterbirds and how they coexist with humans.      

There is this bird that my mother watches.  When it comes down, she says Garuda, garuda.  And does a namaste. This bird is called the Brahminy kite. Haliastur indus.  But is this bird really the Garuda that Hindus worship? That is the bird of Indonesia– after which its airline, Garuda Indonesia is named? We find out in this short episode. Brahminy Kite.  Haliastur indus.  Latin names are precise.  But they also give the history.  Of why a bird is called what it is.  Take Haliastur indus.  It sounds like a Iranian deep dish pizza.  But Halia means sea.  Astur means hawk.  So the origins of the name meant that this bird was considered a sea hawk.  From India.  Hence the name indus. Now the question is– is this bird really garuda– the bird that was the Vishnu Vahana in Hindu mythology.  Vahana means conveyance in Sanskrit.  One of the nice things about Hinduism and many other ancient religions is that they incorporated the natural world into their beliefs.  So a peacock becomes the vahana or vehicle of the warrior Lord Muruga and Garuda is the vahana or vehicle of Vishnu. When you talk about birds in ancient India, most ornithologists refer to a book by KN Dave called Birds in Sanskrit Literature.  According to this book, Garuda was a primeval bird that was the progenitor or parent of all the birds of prey that were mentioned in the Vedas.  The most probable Garuda was also called Nagashi or snake eater.  According to Dave, this was probably the majestic sea eagle.  Later it became the Imperial Eagle or the Himalayan Golden Eagle.  The word Naga means snake and elephant in Sanskrit, hence the image of Garuda carrying an elephant.  Although this particular legend could be attributed to the Persian bird, the legendary Roc or Rukh of immense size.  That could carry off a baby elephant to feed its young. Or maybe it was a lammergier that could carry a turtle– again there are images of Garuda carrying a turtle. But that doesn't mean that the Brahminy kite isn't sacred.  In fact, its presence was considered auspicious.  Mussalman's called it Rumubarik.  In Sanskrit it was called Ranalankarana.  Kshemankari.  The story goes that Shiva was enjoying the company of beauties– other than his wife– when Parvati took the form of a Brahminy kite and shooed them away. Here are the links referred to in the episode: About the Brahminy kite in Sanskrit literature 600 Brahminy kites near Salem in 1905 Using the Irrawady dolphin to herd fish Kleptoparasitism Our thanks to MB Prashanth and MB Krishna for inputs to this episode.  Cover Image from Sreenivas via Unsplash

The beginning of a new avatar. Where we do short episodes. As always, thanks for your attention.

In this short 3-minute episode, we are talking about the amazing birds of Nagaland with Angulie Meyase, a birding guide based in Khonoma, one of the most picturesque towns of Nagaland. He describes many of the birds you can see in Nagaland including the gray sibia, great barbet, assam laughing thrush, crested finchbill, green cochoa, purple cochoa, some eagles, rusty capped fulvetta, mountain bamboo partridge, blyth's trogopan, spot breasted laughing thrush, yellow rumped honeyguide and many others.

This episode is about hornbills in Valparai.  About human wildlife conflict and other things.  But mostly about hornbills. Valparai in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu is verdant and beautiful.  Entire slopes of these gently undulating mountains are covered with tea.  It is in this landscape that the great Indian hornbill likes to play.

Our guest today is Dr. James Christopher Haney, a conservation biologist, wildlife researcher, and author of more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, technical reports, and science summaries. His career trajectory spans the arc of conservation and extinction and we are going to talk about both these topics today.  Dr. Haney's latest book, “Woody's Last Laugh: Ivory-billed Woodpecker as Trickster,” features how that bird came to fool our heads for so long, leading us into various mental mistakes due to the high uncertainty over the bird's ultimate fate. In this episode, we discuss this and other ideas, including the "Romeo error," a condition in which we get bird extinctions wrong (thinking that species are dead when they aren't). We discuss the ivory-bill, but also other examples of bird species from around the world (including one or two from India) that went missing for a very long time, but then were re-found. Dr. Haney has delivered 150 research and public speaking engagements to national and international audiences. Haney was a coauthor of the "Top 40 Priorities for Science to Inform U.S. Conservation and Management Policy." For expertise in advising the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, a cross-governmental coalition charged with restoring marine environments of south-central Alaska, he received an Outstanding Contributions as a Peer Reviewer Award in 2000, and an Outstanding Service Award in 2002. In 2010, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service invited him to lead what was at the time the largest-ever vessel survey of marine birds in the Gulf of Mexico in order to help document injuries to wildlife that were caused by the Deepwater Horizon blow-out and oil spill. Following 15 years of interdisciplinary research, Dr. Haney discovered how and why conservation makes faulty decisions in his new book: "Woody's Last Laugh - How the 'Extinct' Ivory-billed Woodpecker Fools Us into Making 53 Thinking Errors"

We are so sorry but we messed up.  The previous episode that was published was an interview with Judith Mirembe.  For some reason, the full conversation did not go out.  Here is the full-length interview.  Those who listened to part of it before, please fast forward to 22:00 minutes.   Our guest today is Judith Mirembe who is currently based in Uganda.  Judith is a bird guide and researcher with a passion for birds, keen on their conservation as well as protection of their habitats. This passion stems back from when she was a kid where she learnt birds in her local language and appreciated the cultural stories attached to them. She is the Chairperson of the Uganda Women Birders' Club, that started in 2013 as an initiative to introduce women to birdwatching, a profession that is dominated by men in Africa. This passion led her into starting a non-profit organization, Shoebill-Watch Uganda whose major aim is to protect the Shoebill and other bird species in Uganda. She holds a Masters Degree in Environment and Natural Resources and has done a number of courses by the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) on application of Citizen Science in research and conservation of species. She has in the past (2016-2019) worked with Nature Uganda, a Birdlife International Partner in Uganda as the research and monitoring coordinator where her major role was to coordinate bird population monitoring in Uganda. Judith is a Zoological Society of London (ZSL) EDGE (Evolutionally Distinct and Globally Endangered ) of Existence Fellowship Alumni (2017-2019) where she together with the local communities on the shores of Lake Victoria carried out research on the Shoebill, a globally threatened bird species. She has continued this amazing and ground breaking working with the local communities at Mabamba wetland where she has trained the local guides to use a mobile phone tool to monitor the Shoebill and the threats it is faced with as they go about their routine of guiding tourists. She is the editor for the Birdwatch, a newsletter talking about Uganda's birdwatching sector Here are some questions that Judith answered in the interview. For people who have not visited Uganda, can you tell us some of the species of birds that we can see there? What are some of your favorite species and why? Please talk about the different habitats that are found in Uganda.  Please tell us what is special about the shoebill and why you started the conservation program for this bird? Tell us some of the cultural symbolism associated with birds? For example, do people believe that certain birds bring them good luck or bad luck? What are some of the spectacular raptors that you see in Uganda? What about ground dwelling birds such as ostriches which we don't see in India.  The national bird of Uganda is the gray crowned crane. Is there any folk belief or any stories associated with this bird? Why did Uganda choose this as the national bird? You have some incredibly beautiful birds in Uganda. Can you describe a few of your favorites. Maybe the turaco?  India's national bird is a great Indian bustard. You also have bustards in Uganda. Can you talk about that? You also have hornbills-- some pretty impressive ones.   What made you start Uganda Women Birders? Lastly, please tell us about conservation efforts that are happening in Africa and specifically in Uganda. 

Our guest today is Judith Mirembe who is currently based in Uganda.  Judith is a bird guide and researcher with a passion for birds, keen on their conservation as well as protection of their habitats. This passion stems back from when she was a kid where she learnt birds in her local language and appreciated the cultural stories attached to them. She is the Chairperson of the Uganda Women Birders' Club, that started in 2013 as an initiative to introduce women to birdwatching, a profession that is dominated by men in Africa. This passion led her into starting a non-profit organization, Shoebill-Watch Uganda whose major aim is to protect the Shoebill and other bird species in Uganda. She holds a Masters Degree in Environment and Natural Resources and has done a number of courses by the Tropical Biology Association (TBA) on application of Citizen Science in research and conservation of species. She has in the past (2016-2019) worked with Nature Uganda, a Birdlife International Partner in Uganda as the research and monitoring coordinator where her major role was to coordinate bird population monitoring in Uganda. Judith is a Zoological Society of London (ZSL) EDGE (Evolutionally Distinct and Globally Endangered ) of Existence Fellowship Alumni (2017-2019) where she together with the local communities on the shores of Lake Victoria carried out research on the Shoebill, a globally threatened bird species. She has continued this amazing and ground breaking working with the local communities at Mabamba wetland where she has trained the local guides to use a mobile phone tool to monitor the Shoebill and the threats it is faced with as they go about their routine of guiding tourists. She is the editor for the Birdwatch, a newsletter talking about Uganda's birdwatching sector.

This episode is about the magnificent migration of the Amur Falcons, the largest raptor migration in the world. It is 4:30 AM on a cold day in November.  A group of us from Bangalore are driving from Dimapur to Hakhezhe, Nagaland to observe a spectacle like nothing we've seen before: the greatest raptor migration on earth.   The Amur falcon or Falco amurensis breeds between Northern China and Southeastern Siberia.  Amurland.  Where the Amur river-- the tenth longest in the world flows. Unusually for this year, these falcons have come near Dimapur.  They are roosting overnight on the sal and teak trees.  Come dawn and they will fly, looking for the large amount of insects-- termites, dragonflies, bees and others-- that they will catch on the wing.  They are headed for Eastern and Southern Africa where they will winter in warm climes, eating locusts and termites in the fertile red earth of Africa.  To get there, they undertake one of the most arduous migrations in the world.  First they fly from Siberia to Northeast India.  They stockpile food and fat and then fly in one stretch over peninsular India and then over the Indian ocean, covering anywhere from 22,000 kilometres to 30,000 kilometres, over five long days and nights.  Listen to this podcast but also go to the episode page for more links about the successful conservation story behind Amur falcons. 

With us today is Dr. Samira Agnihotri, who has studied bird song, racket-tailed drongos and ethno-ornithology.   Dr. Agnihotri has worked in the Biligiri Rangana Betta or BR Hills from 2005 when she began to study birdsong while pursuing a Master's degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from the National Centre for Biological Sciences. She then studied racket-tailed drongos, walking through the forests with a mike and recorder, and obtained her Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science. She followed up her research on drongos as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. She is keenly interested in the traditional ecological knowledge of the Solega people and has dabbled in ethno-ornithologies, collaborating with linguist Dr. Aung Si, and is intent on documenting Solega knowledge and oral histories. Samira is also interested in nature education, and in exploring different ways to popularise the ecological sciences as well as encourage and aid the preservation of traditional knowledge systems. Samira is a member of Punarchith, a collective that works with farmers and rural youth in Chamarajanagar District. Currently, she works at the Office of Communications at IISc.  

Our guest today is Dr. Nancy Jacobs, a professor of history at Brown University.  The topic of our discussion is based on her third book, a really wonderful read.  It is called Birders of Africa: history of a network.  He current work is on the “Global Grey Parrot.” Nancy Jacobs is Professor of History at Brown University. She specializes in South Africa, colonial Africa, the environment, knowledge, and biography. Her recent work links her to birds. Her third book, Birders of Africa: History of a Network (Yale University, 2016; University of Cape Town, 2018) was an examination of the politics of knowing birds in colonial Africa.