Feathered friends
PANKAJA SRINIVASAN
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Take off with the birds this summer.
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PHOTO: SHAJU JOHN
NAME THEM: Time well-spent.
Why don't you look out for birds in your neighbourhood, this summer? If you spot one, note down details about it. The size — is it big or small; its colours; how it sounds, and so on.
Also, record at what time of the day you have seen it. And, see if you can spot the same bird, or at least the same kind of bird the next day, too.
If you have binoculars, that is great! It would be interesting to find out the favourite hang out of these birds. Do they like the mango tree better? Or perhaps, it is the neem tree round the corner. Some may love the gulmohars down the road or the peepul at the temple.
Rope your friends in and if you are smart enough, you will definitely find someone nearby who knows about birds, and who can tell you interesting bird facts.
Of course, you could always refer to books. Here are a few of them. One is The Book of Indian Birds written by Salim Ali who is a world famous ornithologist. He is often called the Birdman of India.
Another wonderful book is Salim Ali for Schools - A Children's Biography by Zai Whitaker.
Then, there is a National Book Trust Publication on Indian Birds written by N.N. Majumdar. Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Bikram Grewal, Sunjoy Monga and Gillian Wright speaks of India's bewildering array of birds and tells us there are over 1,200 of the world's 8,650 species in our country. May be one reason is because of the variety of terrain — from deserts, forests, mountains, plains etc. And, of course the climate that is very hot in some parts to very cold in others, dry in places and rainy and damp in some areas.
There is every chance you will spot one bird or the other in your locality. If you have a water body close by — a tank, pond or lake, the chances of finding birds increases.
A sure find
Some of the birds you might spot in this region are the tailor birds, sparrows, weavers, tree pies, kingfishers, the painted storks, cormorants, egrets, etc.
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