“By the time you remember a bird’s name it is already changed” – quipped someone in a recent bird walk. She was probably referring to Brown-eared bulbul turning into Ashy bulbul or Yellow-throated sparrow becoming Chestnut-shouldered Petronia. Indeed, birders have used many and in fact any lingos possible — from “Black-goggled Tanager” to “Bananaquit” the list grows on. Thankfully another list is also growing — that of birders, birdwatchers, bird-photographers, twitchers (the ones running after rare birds or ‘lifers’), check-listers, citizen scientists, bird-environmentalists and unfortunately even stringers (the ones misleading others for rare birds). Do we celebrate the numbers or get scared that birdwatchers will lose the ‘nicest person around’ epithet?
Undoubtedly, the increase in interests has a lot to do with terrific guide books covering each and every feather of the sub-continent, innumerable bird-walks organised throughout the years, social networks, forums and diligent media coverage of bird-spotting and finally the blossoming bird-festivals and bird-days. Of course, it also helps that we have over 1200 birds in India and luckily no part of our country is yet birdless. However, enthusiasm in birding should also be balanced by ethical and scientific bird watching and photographic documentation. Birding veterans point out that earlier the only concerns were birders and bird photographers crowding the nesting sites or getting too close to photograph a ‘lifer’. The newer apprehensions are as diverse and as disturbing. Recordings of bird calls/songs are often being played by naturalists and birders in search for specific birds which may disturb roosting or feeding.
Another upsetting trend that is often murmured by photographers abroad is that of capturing birds for studio photography. The spotting and reporting too are not so honest — the fraudulent entry of certain species to increase one’s bird count are unfortunately a norm now. Misleading report of a migrant or vagrant on the other hand carry the risk of leading a researcher to waste time in an unwanted area. Bird enthusiast and novice bird watchers have to understand that reporting an unusual sighting or preparing a checklist is appropriate and warranted but these do not formulate a scientific study alone. It takes years to observe a particular group of birds to know their behaviour, habitat, adaptation, breeding and migration pattern and years more for designating the ecological importance and threat to a species.
Tool of documentation
Although often frowned upon by birders, bird-photography does cater to important documentation. While maintaining a safe distance, quickly taking snaps and following other birding ethics is paramount for bird photography. It should not be confined to the affluent with expensive equipment either as the more admirers we involve, the more birds we document and save. Unfortunately, apart from Bombay Natural History Society and Nature Conservation Foundation, the number of ornithologists in most of our research institutes and universities are very few — leading to a dearth of training in scientific documentation of birds.
The bird festivals embody a solution for this and if every State starts organising its own bird festival involving senior researchers and expert birders, the bird-walks and workshops will turn a new crop of bird enthusiasts into prolific but ethical birders all over India. Karnataka, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are having successful festivals for quite sometime now and sooner others follow the merrier.
Bird-watching is passing through an interesting and encouraging time in India and instead of worrying too much or restricting the growth of bird-enthusiast we should cherish it more albeit with some monitoring and mentoring.
(A benign birder, the writer teaches Molecular and Computational Biology at the University of Delhi)
