COIMBATORE: At the crack of dawn, as blinding light begins to pierce through the green cover of the forest, a blue-spotted thrush with shoulder patches hops on to a tree trunk overlooking a stream. It lets out a whistle that is picked up by a man crouched only a few miles away, on the misty jungle floor, listening intently with his eyes closed.
“Every bird call is unique. I can identify if the chirping belongs to a male or female bird. This one, for instance, is a male Malabar whistling thrush, calling out to his partner. Male thrushes have a more melodious flute-like note to their chirps. Moreover, I can sense if the birds are in danger,” says A Aravind (30), an enthusiastic man who is also an anti-poaching watcher in Manomboly forest, Valparai.
“The Hill Myna and Grey-headed bull sound similar to a human whistle, whereas the Yellow-throated babbler’s calls go on for eight minutes,” he adds.
Born and raised in the hill town of Kurangumudi near Manomboly, a tropical jungle, Aravind grew up in a culture deeply intertwined with the forest and an affection for wild animals. He recalls how he would wake up to the chirping of birds in his backyard. However, after his father’s demise, Aravind, who was in Class 9, had to drop out of school to become a daily wager at a paper mill in Sathymangalam, to support his mother.
He had been working for almost four years in the mill when news spread across town that Bhavani forest officials had rescued an elephant calf. Curious to meet the little calf, an 18-year-old Aravind went to the forest department officials. The officials informed him that the Valparai forest ranger was hiring temporary staff and suggested that he should apply. That had been a turning point in his life.
“Impressed by my energy, the range officer hired me. He said that out of the 27 persons who have been selected, only three will continue to work for the department for the next 20 years.” He turned out to be one of the three. More than 12 years have passed since then, says an elated Aravind.
He joined the Tamil Nadu forest department and patrolled the forest to reduce negative human-elephant interactions. During these patrols, gradually, he began to develop a unique talent; Aravind could identify birds purely by listening to the tempo and pitch of their calls.
“Noting my keen interest in birds, an estate manager gave me a book related to birds. I memorised every page of the book. I tried to learn everything I can about birds, especially from the nature photographers who visited Valparai,” he says. Mostly self-taught, he has trained his eyes and ears to distinguish one bird species from another through his persistence and interest over the years.
“Bird watching has become a keen part of Aravind’s routine while patrolling. He takes great pleasure in noting the most intricate details in the variety of calls, shapes and sizes of birds, their habitats and habits,” notes Manomboly forest officer A Manikandan.
The high-school dropout with no proper training has shaped himself into a trained bird watcher who is able to spot and identify over 100 species of birds by listening to their chirps from miles away. He has also recorded the sounds of these birds in his cell phone. Among the impressive number of birds he has recorded, Aravind lists the most memorable ones: a Lankan frogmouth pair and an Indian scops owl pair, dollar bird, heart-spotted woodpecker, great hornbills, Lankan bay owl, osprey, hawk owl, and black baza.
Aravind has amazed many researchers with his exceptional skill in identifying the types of birds and their roosting sites, proving himself to be a human encyclopaedia of birds in the Valparai range. “He stands as testimony to how one’s love for nature can be channelled into a respectable profession,” says G Venkatesh, forest officer of Valparai range.
A month ago, when a team of forest officers, led by officer Manikandan, was struggling to reunite a stray calf elephant with its missing mother inside Manomboly forest range in Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Aravind turned the whole situation around. Manikandan tells TNIE that Aravind, who knew most of the elephants, precisely located the mother of the calf. He and his colleagues had extensively profiled the wild elephants in the range to monitor their behaviour.
“I have been working for 12 years as a temporary staff member at a salary of Rs 12,500,” says Aravind. He hopes to become a full-time watcher soon. “A permanent job and a higher salary will aid me greatly in taking care of my family better,” he adds with hope in his eyes.
Inspired by Aravind, his elder daughter has also started identifying the birds by their sounds. Aravind hopes to pass on his knowledge to her along with a solid education so that she can work in the forest department for the welfare of the forest and its wildlife.