ornithology

My Grand Uncle Sálim

Rauf Ali

The grand old bird man of India had no problem eating chicken, or any fowl for that matter. And even when he was well into his eighties, he would take a rifle into his garden to shoot crows. Rauf Ali introduces his grand uncle Sálim Ali the way he knew him, a man who was completely deaf in one ear, yet mortified by snorers

Waiting for Godwits

Pramila N. Phatarphekar

They practice ornithology in their backyards—naming little birdies with broken legs and studying the impact of global warming on transcontinental avian migrations