Might be of interest.
For YETI
Debabrata Phukon
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Suhel Quader <suhelq@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, Jun 16, 2021, 4:22 PM
Subject: Fwd: Can you see the birds celebrating the monsoon?
To: YETI <meet.yeti@xxxxxxxxx>
Kindly forward to the YETI mailing list.
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From: The Flock <contact@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2021 at 16:00
Subject: Can you see the birds celebrating the monsoon?
The bird that yearns for rain, and other stories
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Dear Suhel Quader,
There’s a bird that longs for the monsoon each year. And it is this month,
June, when her wishes come true.
That bird is the exceedingly handsome Pied Cuckoo, commonly called *Chaatak*
in Hindi and several other languages. In mythology and folklore, the
*Chaatak* yearns for the rain so she can drink. She lifts her head and
calls until the rain clouds gather and she can quench her thirst. The Pied
Cuckoo is a remarkable bird in many other ways: scroll down to “Know Your
Bird” to learn how.
Do you also love the rains like the *Chaatak*? Write a poem or draw a
sketch telling us what the monsoon means to you. If you post it online, do
tag us!
Birdy People
Some people are lucky to be able to combine their passion for birds and
nature into their profession. Saee Gundawar is one such -- she makes a
living as a naturalist guiding tourists in central India after having
worked as a researcher in multiple countries. “It is never too early or too
late to start birding, don’t let the names and number of species daunt
you,” she says. Read more about Saee’s work and passion
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=9e58226fe9&e=1c3f1645f6>
.
Know Your Bird
Pied Cuckoo
The Pied Cuckoo has a fascinating migration. Some birds stay put all year
round in southern India; but in the central and northern part of the
country they are migratory, coming all the way from Africa. These birds
must ride the monsoon winds to cross the vast Arabian Sea from Somalia to
the Indian coast. What a journey that must be: thousands of kilometres,
with nothing but water beneath.
Once they are here, they quickly get down to the business of breeding,
broadcasting their plaintive call
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=42472619f7&e=1c3f1645f6>
to find mates. Now things get very odd. Rather than building nests and
raising their babies, Pied Cuckoos do something sneaky. They find the nest
of another species, lay eggs in it, and leave the host birds to raise the
cuckoo offspring! Like many (but not all) cuckoos, Pied Cuckoos are ‘brood
parasites’, offloading their parental responsibilities onto someone else,
most often the babblers we commonly call seven sisters or saatbhai.
Young Pied Cuckoo being fed by its foster parent, a Yellow-billed Babbler
[image: Young Pied Cuckoo being fed by its foster parent, a Yellow-billed
Babbler]
In the News
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‘*Lakshadweep urgently needs development but those plans need to be viewed
through the lens of climate change*’, writes Rohan Arthur in this
commentary, published on MongabayIndia
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.
Researcher Rohit Naniwadekar writes for Mint Lounge
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=268b6a05e7&e=1c3f1645f6>
on the important role that hornbills play on the island of Narcondam.
A new study
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estimates there are 6 birds for every human on the planet.
Want to document biodiversity? In an article on NDTV Gadgets
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=5552945f87&e=1c3f1645f6>,
researchers R Prabhakar and Thomas Vattakaven talk about how India
Biodiversity Portal documents all species in the country and how you can
help.
You can help document biodiversity for scientists. Ashwin Viswanathan talks
about how citizen science data is used for advancing our knowledge of the
natural world around us
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.
Read about Urban Birds of Bhubaneswar in ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରର ବିହଙ୍ଗ ବିବିଧତା
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=a5846f1a69&e=1c3f1645f6>
by Dr Bibhu Prasad Panda, published in Sambad.
Learn more about Bird Calls in पक्ष्यांच्या आवाजाची किमया
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=e0fbf645f8&e=1c3f1645f6>
by Siddharth Biniwale, published in The Wire Marathi.
Book Launch
Learn about environment conservation and Indian ecology through comics.
Green Humour cartoonist Rohan Chakravarty launches Green Humor for a
Greying Planet
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=61be173191&e=1c3f1645f6>,
a collection of his comics on various aspects of the natural world and the
threats to its conservation.
Upcoming Events
*June 2021- April 2022*: Leadership Course in Biodiversity Conservation
offered by Bombay Natural History Society. Duration: 11 months. Details here
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=0c3398ca6e&e=1c3f1645f6>.
*August 2021- June 2022: *Basic Course in Ornithology offered by Bombay
Natural History Society. Duration: 11 months. Register here
<https://theflock.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b3ef063e940ccce68dd0ce153&id=45de9d9c12&e=1c3f1645f6>.
Calls and Opportunities
*Consultant science writer required: *A work from home opportunity to write
articles and assist The Weather Channel India's editorial team in
maintaining the news cycle and publishing content on a day-to-day
basis. Details
here
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.
*Participate in a Podcast series: *The team at The Cosmic Treehouse
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is looking for graduate students/PhD candidates at all stages who would be
willing to record their 2-3 minutes long audio responses to fun questions.
More info in this form
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.
*Calling science writers and communicators: *Mongabay India is an
environment and conservation news platform that aims to bring high quality,
original reports from nature’s frontline in India. Pitch a story to
Mongabay India in English or Hindi. Details here
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.
*Calling nature writers in Hindi: *Are you a writer in Hindi and know about
birds? Nature Communications
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is facilitating a series of articles with Hindi’s top media outlets on
specific birds of India -- their behaviour, habitat, relationship with
humans and more. For details email jignasa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with your bio and
writing samples.
*Photo Credits: Header Image: Subhadra Devi; Narcondam Hornbill: Rohit
Naniwadekar; Pied Cuckoo: Vijaya Lakshmi; Red Avadavat: Dr Bibhu Prasad
Panda*
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