salim ali

 

Salim Ali (Salim Muizuddin Abdul Ali, November 12, 1896 - 20-06-1987) was a man based in India for systematic bird watching. His observations laid the foundation for bird watching and nature love among the people of India. These include a book on birds in Kerala. ‘The Fall of a Sparrow’ is his autobiography. Elected National Professor of Ornithology, he has been awarded doctorates by various universities. He is also known as the bird man

 

She was born on November 12, 1896 in Mumbai. Salim Ali was born into a family of five boys and four girls. Father Moizuddin and mother Zeenat Nisa. Salim's father died within a year of his birth and his mother died before he was three years old. The orphans were later raised by their childless uncle. Hunting was the main pastime of the Saipans who came to India at that time and the natives imitated them and went hunting. Salim's uncle was also a good hunter. Salim, who had no interest in studies, dreamed of becoming a good hunter. When Salim was ten, he received an air gun from his uncle. So shooting the sparrows became the child's main pastime, and sparrow meat became a daily staple at home. During the shooting, Salim found a female bird laying eggs and a male guarding the nest, while shooting the male sparrow, but within hours, the female bird acquired another male and sat down, killing at least eight male sparrows. Salim wrote all this in his diary, the first observations of an ornithologist named Salim Ali.

 

The bird that was shot when he was twelve had a yellow mark on his neck. Doubting whether this was meat suitable for a God-fearing Muslim, he approached Salim and told him about the Milliadz Saip at the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Upon arrival, Salim was warmly received by Saip and identified as a yellow throated sparrow (Petronia xanthocollis). He was taken to the laboratory and shown many birds and their differences, and many chambers were opened and many birds of India were introduced. These were the moments when the world famous ornithologist Salim Ali was born.

 

Burma and Germany

Salim Ali's Early Studies Xavier was in college. After the first year, he moved to Tao, Burma, realizing that studying was difficult. There he worked in the tungsten mines, part of the family estate. Cutting wood with made a hobby. He spent his leisure time in the woods near his residence in Burma. Thus he became interested in natural sciences. It was during this time that he joined J.C. Introducing Hopewood and Bertholda Ribentrop. Both were working in the forest department under the Burmese government at the time. Returning to India in 1917 after seven years, Saleem decided to complete his studies and joined Dawar College to study industrial law. Recognizing his interest in natural sciences, Father Ethelbet Blatter of St. Xavier's College persuaded him to study zoology. And so on. He also studied zoology at Xavier College. In December 1918, Salim married Tehmina, a distant relative. He applied for a job as an ornithologist at the Zoological Survey of India, but was turned down because he did not have a formal university degree. This vacancy was later filled by M.L. Is the runewall. In 1926 he was appointed Guide Lecturer in the Department of Natural History at the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai. The salary was 350 rupees per month. Tired of his job after two years, he went to Germany to continue his studies. There he worked under Prof. Irwin Strassmann in the Zoological Museum of the University of Berlin. As part of the work he also had the opportunity to study the models summarized by JK Stanford. Living in Berlin, he had the opportunity to interact with many leading German ornithologists. Prominent among them were Bernhard Rensch, Oskar Heinroth, and Ernst Mayr. He also had the opportunity to work at the Hegoland Observatory.

 

To authentic studies‌

 

In 1914, in a review of a scientific article on British India, the reviewer pointed out that the book had nothing to do with the contribution of the Indians. In the meanwhile, he went to Burma to look for work due to family problems, but continued to watch birds at intervals. Salim Ali came to India four years later and married Tehmina, the daughter of a merchant. In the meantime, he went to Germany for bird watching. In 1932, while traveling for a job, he had the opportunity to participate in the Hyderabad State Ornithology Survey. That was his first study exploration.

 

In 1935, the Maharaja of Travancore prepared a plan to study the birds of Travancore and Cochin and informed the BNHS. In view of the depth of Salim Ali's study in Hyderabad, Salim Ali himself was commissioned for the study. He first studied in the Marayoor area and later went to Chalakudy, Parambikulam and Kuriyarkutty. The beginning of ornithology in Kerala was recorded in a small inn in Kuriyarkutty by his wife Tehmina. During the later voyage, he came to Thattekkad, identified his precious birdlife and chose it as a collection center. Later he studied at Munnar, Kumily, Red Fort and Achankovil. Those observations were first referred to as ornithology in Travancore and Kochi and later by Sir C. P. Revised at the request of Ramaswamy Iyer and released under the title Birds of Kerala. By the time he completed his studies in Kerala in 1939, his wife, Tehmina, had left him forever, and Saleem became a full-fledged bird watcher.

 

With these two studies, Salim Ali became famous and was invited to bird watching all over India. Meanwhile, India became independent and Salim Ali became the head of the BNHS. The world has acknowledged the importance of Salim Ali in his knowledge of the birds of the Indian subcontinent. Salim Ali and American S. The study of birds in India and Pakistan, co - authored by Dillon Ripley, is still an authoritative book on the subject. He traveled from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on his own and studied, but was not touched by illness or laziness.

 

Other contributions

 

Salim Ali was instrumental in rescuing the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) from collapse. Salim's distant relatives are the famous bird watcher Humayun Abdulali and Zafar Futehally. Zafar later became the Honorary Secretary of the BNHS. Salim Ali has taught postgraduate and research students. The first of these students was Vijayakumar Ambedkar. He later wrote a research paper on reproduction and ecology. This paper was edited by scientist David Lack.

Ali has also been instrumental in raising funds for Indian bird watching. He was instrumental in establishing the Economics and Ornithology Unit of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. It was a United Nations-run 'Food for Peace' project. But the project was shelved due to lack of political support. He spearheaded the B.N.H.S project to reduce bird poaching in the late 1980s. Dr. Ali was associated with many prominent figures in post-independence India, many of whom were through Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi. Gifted during his stay in prison.). He has worked to transform the Bharatpur forests into a wildlife sanctuary and to protect the Silent Valley forests.

 

The end times

 

Salim Ali wrote down in simple language what he had learned and understood, and his essays and books won the respect of the world. He died in 1987 at the age of ninety-one, after devoting his entire fortune to scientific research and environmental protection.

 

Major degrees and honors

 

Asiatic Society for Zoological Research in AsiaT.'s Joy Gobinda Low Medal (1953).

President's Padma Bhushan (1958) for his outstanding contribution to Indian ornithology.

Doctorate from Aligarh Muslim University (1958).

Union Gold Medal of the British Ornithologists' Union (1967).

John C. Phillips Memorial Medal for International Conservation Activities (1969).

Sunderlal Hora Memorial Medal of the Indian National Academy of Sciences (1970) for outstanding contributions to Indian ornithology.

Doctorate from the University of Delhi (1973).

Pavlovsky Centennial Memorial Medal of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (1973).

H.R.H. Prince Bernard of the Netherlands' Insignia of Officer in the Order of the Golden Arc (1973).

J. in Wildlife Conservation. Paul Getty International Award (1976).

Padma Vibhushan by the President of India (1976) for Ornithology.

Doctorate from Andhra University (1978).

CV Raman Medal of the Indian National Academy of Sciences (1979).

Asiatic Society of Bangladesh Gold Medal (1981) for services to ornithology in the Indian subcontinent.

Rabindranath Tagore Flag of the Asiatic Society Calcutta (1981).

National Research - Professorship in Ornithology (1982), Government of India.

USA National Wildlife Federation International Conservation Award (1983).

National Award for Wildlife Conservation (Government of India) (Gold Medal) (1983).

 

Books

 

The book of Indian Birds (1941)

Indian Hill Birds (1949)

The Birds of Kuch (1945)

The Birds of Kerala

The Birds of Sikkim

Hand book of the birds of India and Pakistan

Common Birds (1967)

Field guidelines to the birds of Eastern Himalayas

The fall of a Sparrow (autobiography)