E-book on 100 common Indian birds released

In what would go a long way in educating kids and amateurs, a unique e-book on 100 Indian common books was recently released.

Veteran naturalist and conservationist Dr Raju Kasambe, in his e-book '100 Common Birds in India', describes the species of birds with their identification, calls, residential status, habitat, distribution along with updated maps, some habits, diets of most species, bird migration studies, and interesting tidbits about many species.

Every species is illustrated with a colourful image. The book can be accessed on any smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer.

"The purpose of the e-book is to spread the joy of bird watching and knowledge about the common birds among amateur bird watchers and nature lovers in India," says Kasambe, who works as an assistant director of education with the Conservation Education Centre, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

The 126-page book is published by the Wildlife and Environment Conservation Society, Amravati. The cover design has been done by Neenad Abhang.

Dr. Suhel Quader of National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore has provided the list of birds most widely reported from India, as per the eBird India database.

"I have selected the species which have a wider distribution or range across major parts of India. I firmly believe that if the knowledge of wildlife or birds is to be passed on to the next generation, it should be transmitted through the medium the ‘next generation’ is daily hooked on to. Printed books are required, but we cannot reach more people without the use of digital form and social media. We need to use them more often," he said.

"To avoid confusion of nomenclature, which has changed a lot in recent past, old names as well as alternate names of many bird species, for both common names and scientific names are mentioned," he added.