Researchers' Corner

Being a field researcher, collecting data on illegal trade and roadkills of birds, especially in an unknown locality often sparked people’s curiosity about my work. They wanted to know who, where, why and what I was doing…!!

"As we entered the campus, we began looking for birds and reached a tree patch at the corner of the boys’ hostel. There I saw the flashing red colour in the cover of the leaves. I was unsure whether it was the bird which I thought it was. I climbed onto a wall for a better view. To my delight, it was indeed what I thought it was...."

“The drive and motivation was so insane, I would go even when it would be pouring in the middle of the infamous Darjeeling monsoon. For me, the birds turned the shut down into a blessing in disguise because my MSc course did not allocate separate time for internship or dissertation, and I might have never gotten the chance to spend time in the field if not for the shut down.”

“It was early morning, and the forest was shrouded in mist. As I carefully walked through the dense undergrowth, I heard its distinctive two-note whistle. My excitement grew as I followed the sound, hoping for a rare sighting. Suddenly, there it was – hopping gracefully among the fallen leaves, its vibrant plumage a striking contrast to the forest floor.”

"It had been many months in the forest but we had not been not able to trap and tag a single Great Hornbill. It was one such morning in the forest of Pakke. We had almost lost all hopes of getting a hornbill trapped. That day, we had put up our trap between two fig trees. While we were waiting in the hide, we suddenly heard the loud flapping sounds of a Great Hornbill approaching..."

My background is in chemistry, and until graduation, I never formally studied biology. However, I've always been passionate about wildlife and nature, thanks to my childhood spent along the banks of the Ganga River, surrounded by its rich biodiversity and interactions.

That morning, we were monitoring eight nests of five different woodpecker species in the forests of Pawalgarh and were desperately trying to find the nest of a particular family of the Great Slaty Woodpecker. This particular family was very elusive and always flew away when it sensed us. While we were busy looking for this family, we unexpectedly came across a nest of the Greater Yellownape Woodpecker. The nest had two chicks that were taking turns peeping out of the nest. Soon, the hungry chicks were fed a beakful of termites by their parents. It was truly a visual treat!

We decided to climb and rest at a sunny spot overlooking the valley offering a good view of the riparian forest. As we were sitting and idly chatting, there was a sudden flurry of bird activity in the distance and we saw a small swarm of black specks hopping from the canopy of one tree to another, along the course of the rivulet—a mixed species flock! My first conscious experience of encountering one.

"I like the fact that when studying birds, I also get to understand the ecological and social underpinnings of the wonderful avian biodiversity. In places like Assam and Arunachal Pradesh where I work, the diversity of birds is not supported just by the diversity in habitat, but also by the years of protection accorded by local communities, for whom biodiversity is also an identity."

"As I took the next turn, I was surprised to see dust clouds ahead of me, obscuring some kind of vigorous activity. Eventually the dust settled down, revealing a Bonelli’s eagle struggling to hold a female bustard in his talons! They became still as soon as they saw the vehicle. I was very confused about my next step. On the one hand it was a rare natural history moment which was happening in front of me; and on the other hand, a female bustard (an important individual of just a few remaining GIBs) was dying before my eyes."