Salim Ali (ornithologist)
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Postage Stamp featuring Dr. Salim Ali released on the occasion of his birth centenary |
Sálim Ali, born Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali, (
November 12,
1896 -
July 27,
1987), was an
Indian
ornithologist and
naturalist. Known as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys in India and his books have contributed enormously to the development of professional and amateur
ornithology in India.
Salim Ali was born into a Muslim family of Bombay, the tenth and youngest child. He was orphaned at the age of ten, and brought up by his maternal uncle, Amiruddin Tyabji, and childless aunt, Hamida Begum, in a middle-class household in Khetwadi, Mumbai. Another uncle was
Abbas Tyabji, well known Indian freedom fighter. Salim Ali was introduced to the serious study of birds by
W. S. Millard, secretary of the
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) who helped him identify an unusually coloured sparrow that he had shot for sport. Millard identified it as a
Yellow-throated Sparrow, and showed him around the Society's collection of stuffed birds. This was a key event in his life and led to Salim's pursuit of a career in ornithology, an unusual career choice in those days. Salim Ali's cousin
Humayun Abdulali also became an ornithologist.
Salim Ali's early education was at
St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Following a difficult first year in college, he dropped out and went to
Tavoy,
Burma to look after the family wolfram mining and timber interests there. The forests surrounding this area provided an opportunity for Ali to hone his naturalist (and hunting) skills. On his return to India in 1917, he resumed his education, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in Zoology. He married a distant relation, Tehmina in 1918.
Ali failed to get an ornithologist's position at the
Zoological Survey of India due to lack of sufficient academic qualifications. He however decided to study further after he was hired as guide lecturer in 1926 at the newly opened natural history section in the
Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai. He went on study leave in 1928 to
Germany, where he trained under Professor
Erwin Stresemann at the Zoological Museum of Berlin University.
On his return to India in 1930, he discovered that the guide lecturer position had been eliminated due to lack of funds. Unable to find a suitable job, Salim Ali and Tehmina moved to Kihim, a coastal village near Mumbai, where he began making his first observations of the
Baya Weaver. The publication of his findings on the bird in 1930 brought him recognition in the field of ornithology.
Ali undertook systematic bird surveys of the
princely states, Hyderabad, Cochin, Travancore, Gwalior, Indore and Bhopal, under the sponsorship of the rulers of those states. He was aided in his surveys by advice from
Hugh Whistler. Salim wrote "My chief interest in bird study has always been its ecology, its life history under natural conditions and not in a laboratory under a microscope. By travelling to these remote, uninhabited places, I could study the birds as they lived and behaved in their habitats."
Hugh Whistler also introduced Salim to
Richard Meinertzhagen and the two made an expedition into Afghanistan. Although Meinertzhagen had very critical views of him, they continued to remain good friends. Salim Ali found nothing amiss in Meinertzhagen's bird works but later studies have shown many of his studies to be fraudulent. Meinertzhagen later made his diary entries available to Salim and reproduced in his autobiographical
Fall of a Sparrow.
Ali rediscovered a rare weaver-bird species,
Finn's Baya in the
Kumaon Terai region, but was unsuccessful in his expedition to find the
Mountain Quail (
Ophrysia superciliosa).
He was accompanied and supported on his early ornithological surveys by his wife, Tehmina, and he was shattered when she died in
1939 following a minor surgery. After Tehmina's death, Salim Ali was looked after by his sister and brother-in-law.
The following quote from his autobiography clarifies his stand on hunting vs collection for scientific study:
Salim Ali was very influential in ensuring the survival of the
BNHS and managed to save the 200-year old institution by writing to the then Prime Minister
Pandit Nehru for financial help.
Dr. Ali's influence helped save the
Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and the
Silent Valley National Park. In 1990, the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology & Natural History (SACONH) was established at Kalayampalayam,
Coimbatore, aided by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF),
Government of India.
He took an interest in bird photography along with his friend
Loke Wan Tho.
Although recognition came late, he received numerous awards, some of which are
Padma Bhushan (1958)
Union Medal of the
British Ornithologists' Union, a rarity for a non-Britisher (1967)
The John C. Phillips Medal for Distinguished Service in International Conservation, from the
World Conservation Union (1969)
Padma Vibhushan (1976)
Getty International Prize for Wildlife Conservation (1976)
Commander of the Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark (1986)
He was elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1958. He also received three
honorary doctorates and was nominated to the
Rajya Sabha in
1985.
Dr. Salim Ali died in 1987 at the age of 91 after a prolonged battle with
prostate cancer.
Salim Ali wrote a number of popular and academic books, many of which continue to be standard references for the study of birds in the Indian subcontinent. He is the author of
Handbook of the Birds of India & Pakistan (Vols. 1-10) with
Sidney Dillon Ripley, Bombay:
Oxford University Press(OUP) (1964-74) :Volume 1
Divers to Hawks:Volume 2
Megapodes to Crab Plover:Volume 3
Stone Curlews to Owls:Volume 4
Frogmouths to Pittas:Volume 5
Larks to Grey Hypocolius:Volume 6
Cuckoo-Shrikes to Babaxes:Volume 7
Laughing Thrushes to the Mangrove Whistler:Volume 8
Warblers to Redstarts:Volume 9
Robins to Wagtails:Volume 10
Flowerpeckers to BuntingsFall of a Sparrow, (Autobiography) (1985)
The Book of Indian Birds, Bombay: BNHS (1941), ISBN 0-195-66523-6
Common Birds with Laeeq Futehally, New Delhi:
National Book Trust(NBT) (1967)
A Pictorial Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent with Dillon Ripley, Bombay: OUP (1983)
Common Indian Birds, A Picture Album New Delhi: NBT (1968)
Hamare Parichat Pakshee with Laeeq Futehally (
Hindi). New Delhi: NBT (1969)
Handbook of the Birds of India & Pakistan (compact edition) with Ripley, D., Bombay: OUP (1987)
The Book of Indian Birds (12th and enlarged centenary ed.) New Delhi: BNHS & OUP (1996)
Bird Study in India: Its History and its Importance New Delhi: ICCR (1979)
The Great Indian Bustard (Vols.1-2). with Rahmani, A. Bombay: BNHS (1982-89)
Regional Guides
Birds of Bhutan with
Biswas, B. &
Ripley, D., Calcutta:
Zoological Survey of India (1996)
The Birds of Bombay and Salsette with
H. Abdulali, Bombay: Prince of Wales Museum (1941)
The Birds of Kutch, London: OUP (1945)
Indian Hill Birds Bombay: OUP (1949)
The Birds of Travancore and Cochin Bombay: OUP (1953)
The Birds of Gujarat Bombay: Gujarat Research Society (1956)
A Picture Book of Sikkim Birds Gangtok: Government of Sikkim (1960)
The Birds of Sikkim Delhi: OUP (1962)
Birds of Kerala Madras: OUP (1969)
Field Guide to the Birds of the Eastern Himalayas Bombay: OUP (1977)
The Vernay Scientific Survey of the Eastern Ghat; Ornithological Sectionâ€"Together with The Hyderabad State Ornithological Survey 1930-38 with
Hugh Whistler,
Norman Boyd Kinnear (undated)
Technical Studies and Reports
Studies on the Movement and Population of Indian Avifauna Annual Reports I-4. with Hussain, S.A., Bombay: BNHS (1980-86)
Ecological Reconnaissance of Vedaranyam Swamp, Thanjavur District, Tamil Nadu Bombay: BNHS (1980)
Harike Lake Avifauna Project (co-author) Bombay: BNHS (1981)
Ecological Study of Bird Hazard at Indian Aerodromes (Vols. I & 2). with Grubh, R. Bombay: BNHS (1981-89)
Potential Problem Birds at Indian Aerodromes with Grubh, R. Bombay: BNHS
The Lesser Florican in Sailana with Rahmani
et al. Bombay: BNHS (1984)
Strategy for Conservation of Bustards in Maharashtra (co-author) Bombay: BNHS (1984)
The Great Indian Bustard in Gujarat (co-author) Bombay: BNHS (1985)
Keoladeo National Park Ecology Study with Vijayan, S., Bombay: BNHS (1986)
A.Study of Ecology of Some Endangered Species of Wildlife and Their Habitat. The Floricans with Daniel J.C. & Rahmani, Bombay: BNHS (1986)
Status and Ecology of the Lesser and Bengal Floricans with Reports on Jerdon's Courser and Mountain Quail Bombay: BNHS (1990)
* In his school days, the only award he won was for good conduct, and the prize was a book,
Our Animal Friends.
* Salim Ali wanted the
Great Indian Bustard to be declared the National Bird of India. The
Lok Sabha however, chose the
Peacock.
* Salim Ali's Fruit Bat (
Latidens salimalii), named after him in 1972 by the discoverer Kitty Thonglongya, is one of the world's rarest bats, and the only species in the genus
Latidens.
* The Mysore
Rock Bush Quail (Perdicula argoondah salimalii) and the Eastern Race of the Finn's
Baya Weaver (Ploceus megarhynchus salimalii) were named, by
Whistler and
Abdulali respectively, in Salim Ali's honour.
* The Black-rumped Flameback Woodpecker, first collected in Kerala by Salim Ali, is named after his wife, Tehmina (
Dinopium benghalense tehminae).
*
Bibliography of Indian birds, compiled by Bikram Grewal*
The Bombay Natural History Society*
Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History*
On the Flight of Birds: an excerpt from Salim Ali's Book of Indian Birds
