Birdwatching

When you think of birdwatching which is the first name that comes  to your mind? Salim Ali of course! The famous Ornithologist.Ornithology is the subject that studies birds and bird behaviour. Salim shot a little known sparrow when he was young called'Yellowthroated Sparrow'.this is was how he started birdwatching.Salim came to know that just as we humans have name and surname birds have genus(surname) and specie name(first name).young Salim did a bit of research work on the shabby bird crow.He found that the domestic crow is called (Corvus Splendens) whereas the jungle crow is called (Corvus Macrorhynchos). Years later Salim Ali wrote a book called 'The Book Of Indian Birds' which is a classic book for amateur birdwatchers.Years passedand made Salim Ali the best amateur birdwatcher.
One day Salim received an invitation sent by German ornithologist Erwin Stressman. He invited Salim to teach him bird taxonomy which is the science of classifying birds.Dr Salim Ali is famous for his work on Baya(Weaver Bird). He discovered that the male Baya is a wonderful builder. Each and every male baya builds a beautiful  bottle shaped nest . Salim Ali had written in his autobiography the "fall of a sparrow" his love for birds of Kerala. to which he had dedicated his book called "birds of kerala". he undertook bird surveys  to Princely states such as Travancore-Cochin, Bhopal, Indore,  Gwalior and many more including Gujrat where he studied the  Greater Flamingo in Rann of Kutch. He noticed a peculiar as well as interesting fact about the Malabar Hornbill. The male hornbill locks up his wife and babies in the nest in the tree and covers it with mud and supplies food at right time . He does it so to protect them from lizard and snakes.There are some birds discovered by other Ornithologists but named after Salim Ali,' Oriental White eye' (Zosterops Palpebrasa Salimalii) Rock bush Quail(Perdicula Argoondah Slimali) and many more. So in simple words I would call Salim Ali the god of Ornithology.