Salim Ali – Ornithologist

The most famous ornithologist of India, is Salim Ali (1896-1987) known as the "Birdman of India." Born as the tenth and youngest child of a Muslim family of Bombay, the lad was orphaned at the age of ten and was brought up by his maternal uncle.

Salim Ali was introduced to the serious study of birds by the Secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society, a Mr. W.S. Millard, which was to fuel Salim's pursuit of a career in ornithology. After a difficult early education at St.Xavier's College, Mumbai, he dropped out and went to Tavoy, Burma, which gave him the opportunity to develop skills as a naturalist and hunter.

In 1917, Salim returned to India, resumed his education, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Zoology and in the following year married a distant relation. In 1926 he was hired as a guide lecturer at the History Section of the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai. In 1930, as the position of guide lecturer has been eliminated due to lack of funds, Salim moved to a coastal village near Mumbai, where he began making observations of the Baya Weaver bird.

He later undertook a systematic bird study of various Indian princely States, and with Richard Meinertzhagen, made an expedition into Afghanistan. Salim Ali was accompanied and supported on early ornithological surveys by his wife, who sadly died in 1939.

Salim Ali was very influential in ensuring the survival of the Bombay Natural History Society, the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and the Silent Valley National Park. In 1990, the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History was established at Anaikatty, Coimbatore aided by the Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests. Salim also took an interest in bird photograph with a friend Loke Wan Tho.

Ifyou are interested in obtaining what is regarded as the definitive compendium of Indian ornithology, you could do no better than purchasing a copy of Salim Ali, Book of Indian Birds.