by Shoba Narayan | Jun 6, 2021 | Issue, Person, Species
Do you want to become a reviewer for ebird? Which bird is the logo of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology? Do you think sparrow populations are declining? What abour vireos? Can you “rent” land from farmers to help shorebirds? In this fascinating episode, we talk to Christopher Wood, who heads ebird at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Ashwin Viswanathan who is part of Bird Count India and NCF. Over one billion birders use ebird. How did it become this global behemoth? Hint, it wasn’t driven by America. How does ebird track and help avian populations, migration and mapping birds. How do different countries use it, and is India really the “global custodian” of so many species including the Common Rosefinch, Bar-headed Geese, or Blythe’s Reed Warbler?
by Shoba Narayan | May 9, 2021 | Issue, Person
“By the time a bar-tailed godwits dies, it would have flown to the moon and most of the way back,” says ornithologist and author Scott Weidensaul. A bar-tailed godwit flies 18,000 miles a year. By the time it dies, it will have flown closer to 500,000...
by Tamanna Atreya | Apr 25, 2021 | Issue, Person
“To be able to conserve and protect, you have to observe and love,” says philanthropist Rohini Nilekani. “Being in nature, you get this sense of continuing renewing wonder,” she says. In this episode, Rohini talks about her favourite birds and...
by Shoba Narayan | Apr 18, 2021 | Destination, Person
Maitreya Sukumar, 18, who has been birding since he was 4, has seen 850 + bird species in the Indian subcontinent and around 2500 species overall . He was named Sanctuary Asia’s Young Naturalist of the year in 2018. Apart from birds, he is interested in frogs,...
by Tamanna Atreya | Apr 9, 2021 | Person
Dr. Krishna MB is an ecologist and ornithologist from Bangalore who has been interested in bird and habitat conservation and improvement. A legend in the Bangalore birding community, he has studied zoology and pursued his research on bird ecology.
Krishna is a regular fixture at birding walks at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden and is a wealth of knowledge on ecology and bird identification. He has advised many corporate and individuals on modifying landscape garden plans to make them more urban-wildlife friendly. It is in this capacity that he has advised SAP Labs and Robert Bosch on making their campus gardens more functional. He has also advised other corporates like the Taj West End, Trans Indus, Fanuc India, Benson Company, TVS Motors and others, and the Karnataka State Forest Department on issues related to birds, bird habits and landscaping.
by Shoba Narayan | Mar 2, 2021 | Person
Are you interested in how parrot species and their beaks evolved? How do parrots eat? What is the link between the length of parrot beaks and what they eat– fruits versus nuts? Have feathers evolved to insulate the birds? Why do feathers fluff up? Why is the body of the bird spindle-shaped? How do vultures soar? Parrots and the connection to Gondwanaland. Why is it bad when parrots in a cage start to speak? Contact calls among flocks of birds, how birds land on trees, are some of the other things she talks about.
