Dr. Salim Ali : Bird Man of India

After failed attempts at pursuing a more mainstream career in the family business and studying Commercial Law and Accountancy, Salim finally completed a degree in Zoology – realizing that his interest lay here professionally.

The degree wasn’t ever offered in the country, hence he had to look abroad for the opportunity! Through his education, he was given the opportunity to travel overseas to Germany to work under eminent Ornithologists such as Dr.Irvin Strassman at the Berlin Zoological Museum.

With limited opportunities as an ornithologist in India, Salim Ali often faced unemployment. He was doing this while working part-time as a guide at the Museum of Natural History (Prince of Wales Museum) in Bombay, showing people around and explaining to them the different facts of the preserved birds kept at the museum. It was a position he lost when he returned to India from Germany.

He decided to take up a job as a clerk at the museum instead while making observations in the field all the while. His main area of interest was the behavior of birds within the habitat in which they lived.

Despite modest financial conditions, he aimed at finding time in the field doing what he loved – His first notable document in 1930 was the on the Baya Weaver’s polygamous mating behavior which generated a lot of momentum for him in the Ornithological world – a field yet unexplored by an India.

It propelled him to write to several State Governments to fund extensive fieldwork on birds in different areas of India, his passion and endeavor took him a long way in this regard as he was often granted these funds in the states of Hyderabad, Cochin, Travancore Bhopal, Indore, and Gwalior.

For 10 years he traveled doing extensive surveys across India, with his wife Tehmina Begum, who tragically passed away in 1939.

Salim Ali knew about almost every corner of the country, creating records of habitat, altitudes, distribution, identification, behavior, and even sampling of the birds for further taxonomical study as was required at the time.

In 1941, he published the “Book of Indian Birds” which is his piece de resistance, and still today is the most well-known pictorial field guide on identifying birds in India.

Books By Dr. Salim Ali :

– Book of Indian Birds – 1940
– Birds of Kutch – 1945
– Indian Hill Birds – 1949
– Birds of Travancore and Cochin – 1953
– Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan with co-author Dillon Ripley, covering his work in 10 volumes from his observations in the field from 1968 – 1974.
– “Fall of a Sparrow”: His Autobiography.

Contributions :

– Pioneered detailed ornithological bird surveys in India.
– Obtained Support to establish Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary/Keoladeo – Ghana Wildlife Sanctuary: now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
– Rediscovered the Finn’s Weaver in the Kumaon Region of Himachal Pradesh, in 1950.
– Recorded continuous presence of White-naped Tit in Mysore State, known otherwise only from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
– Recording of the Pin-striped Tit Babbler in the bamboo-clad areas on the banks of the River Kabini, Karnataka. a far cry from its distribution in the evergreen forests of South-east Asia, North-east India, Terai, and the Eastern Ghats.
– Discovery of a new race of Rock Bush Quail, whose plumage uniquely matched that of the red laterite soil in Central Karnataka.
– Preventing the destruction of Silent Valley National Park, Kerala, from Hydroelectric Projects.
– Instrumental in gathering governmental funds for multiple Ornithological surveys and projects.
– Proposed to the Indian Government to declare the Great Indian Bustard as India’s National Bird in

Notable Accolades :

– Dr.Salim Ali ultimately was appointed the head of the BNHS and saved the then 100-year-old institution from going under, through written appeals to the First Prime Minister of India: Mr.Jawaharlal Nehru.
– First, non-Britisher to win the Gold Medal from the British Ornithologists Union.
– J.Paul Getty International Prize for Nature Conservation 1976, which included a cash prize of USD 50,000/- given right off the cuff to the BNHS by Dr.Salim Ali!
– 03 Honorary Doctorates from the Indian Government.
– Padma Bhushan – 1958: The 3rd Highest Civilian Award in India.
– Padma Vibhuhan – 1976 The 2nd Highest Civilian Award in India.
– Nominated to the Rajya Sabha(India’s Upper House of Parliament) – 1985.

– The Laterite Rock Bush Quail(Perdicula argoondha salimalii): A Subspecies of the Rock Bush Quail, found amongst the laterite red soil at Marikanive near Hiriyur, Chitradurga District of Karnataka.

– Finn’s Weaver(Ploceus megarhynchus salimalii): Subspecies of the Finn’s Baya or Finn’s Weaver from Eastern India.]

– White-browed Scimitar Babbler(Pomatorhinus schisticeps salimalii): Subspecies of the White–browed Scimitar Babbler from Mishmi Hills in Arunachal Pradesh.

– Oriental White Eye(Zosterops palpebrosus salimalii): Subspecies of the Oriental White Eye from the South – the Eastern Ghats.

– Zitting Cisticola(Cisticola juncidis salimalii): A Subspecies of the Zitting Cisticola of South India which does not show seasonal variation in tail length, unlike its cousins from Central India and Sri Lanka.

– Black-rumped Flameback(Dinopium benghalense Tehminae): Subspecies of the Lesser Goldenback or Black-rumped Flameback was named after his wife Tehmina. It has a bit of variation in that has more Olive upper parts and whose wing-covert spots are not distinct.

– Salim Ali’s Fruit Bat(Latidens salimalii): A Bat endemic to Southern India. It is considered 01 of 03 rarest bats in the world, first described in 1972.

– Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary – Thattekad, Kerala: This Sanctuary of Tropical Evergreen Forest is one of the best places in India for birdwatching, and was duly named after Dr. Salim Ali.

– Dr.Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary – Goa: Located on the banks of the Mandovi River, it is an estuarine swamp covered with mangroves. A birdwatcher’s delight.