Since childhood, birds fascinated Dr. P. Sathiyaselvam. Growing up in a small village in Tamil Nadu, he had the opportunity to experience the bounties of nature all around him. Often, he would play with his friends near rivers, lakes, and ponds, getting close to many feathered visitors in and around these water bodies. Although he did […]
As a child, he was mesmerised by their mischievous ways of frolicking along the banks of the Arasalar River that flowed near his home. For hours, he would observe them efficiently swimming in the river, catching fish, and grooming each other. At that time, he had no inkling that one day, these otters would be […]
I woke up to the rising sun and the melodious calls of the common hawk cuckoo and the Indian pitta – a summer visitor to the region. I was staying at a forest rest house in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. Still groggy, I grabbed my camera and quickly left the rest house, determined […]
As the monsoon rains drench one of the last remaining grasslands in Rajasthan, the male of one of India’s fastest-disappearing bird species makes its move to woo the female. It folds its legs and shoots vertically upwards to about 2 to 3 metres above the grass, with its partly open wings fluttering and producing a […]
It was a bright, sunny summer morning. I was waiting, all excited, at the Moharli Safari Gate of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). I was there to meet the reserve’s new residents—ten gorgeous white-rumped vultures and the BNHS vulture conservation research team stationed there. The vultures had been transported from the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Center […]
They symbolise eternal, unconditional love and inspire timeless tales of devotion, passion, poetry, art, and architecture. They are believed to be harbingers of good fortune whose presence indicates the sound health of wetland ecosystems. They are the sarus cranes, the world’s tallest flying birds. However, these birds we associate with all things positive are no […]
Today, on the second day of fieldwork in the high-altitude mountains, I awoke before my alarm, feeling acclimatized to the altitude. Gone was the sleep inertia; all I needed to kick-start the day was a steaming cup of black coffee. The scent of kerosene wafting from the bhukari (a traditional Himalayan room heater) in the […]
The temperature was freezing, but the view was spectacular. The snow-clad lofty peaks of Mount Kanchenjungha spread across the horizon in the distance. However, neither the cold nor the jaw-dropping views distracted the team of researchers from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). They had gathered in a small shack at the Thambi View Point […]
In nature, everything has a meaning, including the colours adorned by various species. For example, the stripes of tigers act as camouflage to help them hunt prey. The stick insects’ colour and appearance, blending them with the surrounding vegetation, make them less noticeable to predators. The vibrant colours of resplendent peacocks help them attract females […]
Housed in the historic Hornbill House, the headquarters of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at Fort, Mumbai, is a natural heritage of immense significance – the BNHS Natural History Collections. It is an invaluable treasure trove of natural history specimens collected from across the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Over 1,50,000 specimens of fauna across […]
