Birds of India (Collins Field Guide)

PFS Book Club --- 21st Dec 24 On Saturday we discussed book called “A field guide to the birds of india” by Krys Kazmierczak. Jaishree started the session by saying that in our PFS only we see so many exotic birds. There are around 1400 species of birds in India. First bird what we discussed was scaly breasted Munia, male bird is having scales whereas female is normal. Jaishree mentioned that male birds are more beautiful than female ones in all species of birds. She mentioned that with continuous observation we can easily identify type of birds around our areas. She covered all birds which can be seen in PFS and lake area behind G block. She talked about many birds like red whiskered bulbul, Koel, Grey Heron, purple rumped sunbird,spot billed duck also called haldi Kumkum bird,great egret, brahmany kite,white throated kingfisher, purple swamp hen, red wattled lapwing, great cormorant and during breeding this bird develops white patch on thighs and white facial skin. Pelicans, painted stork, pond heron, black winged stilt,sandpiper,painted stork. She also explained the difference between parakeet and parrot and after understanding the difference Shiva realized that till this time she was calling her pet Parrakeet as parrot. This book has distribution maps and mention about different species, useful notes on identification, habitat and behavior, altitude range. She also mentioned that many migratory birds come to india during winters specially from Siberia, Mongolia and central Asia. These birds from cold climate come till Gujarat as they feel south temperature little hot. She mentioned that there are many bird watching groups in delhi and this time after long time Eurasian griffon (correct me if I’m wrong) is visible. She said in Bangalore you can go to Lalbagh, cubbon park and Hasserghatta for bird watching. Jaishree ended the session with amazing mention about national bird of india. In 1960 indian government was asked about national bird of india by international bird conservation organization and suggestion was to select the bird which needs attention and protection because of depleting numbers. Great bustard also called godavan in hindi was obvious choice and was endangered species. But people from government thought that bustard can be mispronounced and can be embarrassing and was replaced by peacock because of mythological and ornamental importance. Words can’t explain the quality of the knowledge enriching session and would request Jaishree to do this session once more for kids. One of the most amazing session we had in our club.