Samad Kottur’s book, Birds of Hampi, is intended to help both the seasoned bird watcher and the lay nature lover identify the birds in and around Hampi.
Kottur says he departed from the assumption that the birds are restricted to Ranganatittu and southern Karnataka. “I began exploring birds in Hospet, Hampi and around the Tungbhadra dam and was surprised by the diversity. I began documenting them from 2000, and conducted hundreds of bird watching camps and awareness camps for students and the public,” he told City Express.
The book gives the scientific name and common name of each bird, and also describes its size, habitat, plumage, special habits, and breeding season. All this information is accompanied by photographs.
By his reckoning, the book goes beyond the category of a coffee table book, and can be used as a handy field guide by nature lovers, bird watchers and people in general.
‘Birds of Hampi’ aims at initiating conservation of the immense and rich natural heritage of the Hampi-Anegundi and Hyderabad Karnataka region. It brings to our attention the existence of species considered uncommon in these tracts, and also helps the forest department with information to save them from poachers.
“The book helps a lay reader become a bird watcher. A bird watcher will definitely become a conservator,” says Kottur.
Birds of Hampi, published by Indian Natural Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach) and priced at `399, will be launched at 5.30 pm on April 5 at the Satish Dhawan Auditorium, Indian Institute of Science.