Date:01/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/01/stories/2009010156572200.htm

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Mapping the world of birds

C. Gouridasan Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following in the footsteps of legendary ornithologist Salim Ali, who mapped Kerala’s bird population for the first time 75 years ago, the Kerala State Biodiversity Board and the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department are joining hands to undertake a bird survey.

In 1933, it was the Maharaja of erstwhile Travancore State who initiated the scientific survey on the birds and their habitats in the State with the involvement of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

The survey was led by Dr. Salim Ali with the assistance of the then curator of the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo N. G. Pillai. They started the survey on January 3, 1933, and completed it on December 31 the same year. The outcome of the survey was an exhaustive book titled ‘Ornithology of Travancore and Cochin’ published in 1953. Later, it was revised and reprinted after further studies in the erstwhile Malabar State in 1969.

The Kerala State Biodiversity Board and the Forest and Wildlife Department are planning to do exactly what Dr. Ali did, sticking to the same dates, periodicity of survey and localities of observation, but using modern gadgetry that would help avert the need to capture the birds for examination.

The survey would, thus, begin on January 3 and end on December 31, 2009. Once again, the survey would be done through the Salim Ali Wild Wings Trust under the BNHS. The idea is to compare the findings in 1933 and the situation 75 years later to study the changes that have come about in the various parameters of bird life and their habitats in Kerala.

In 1933, the study was conducted at 19 stations over 172 days. Of these, three stations are now in Tamil Nadu. During the 1933 survey, bird specimens were collected and different parameters of each bird was recorded and skin was processed and stored at the Bombay Natural History Museum. Each collection centre was marked using magnetic compass and the altitude of each station using altimeter. No attempt was made to study the population or density of each species.

This time round, modern equipment such as digital camera, GPS, binoculars and call recorders would be used in the study, to be conducted in two phases, beginning with the former Travancore region.

As in 1933, the 170-day study would result in a report and a book to be prepared by the BNHS.