Sálim Ali

Sálim Ali (born 12 November 1896, Bombay [now Mumbai], Maharashtra, India—died 20 June 1987, Mumbai) was an eminent Indian ornithologist, naturalist, and conservationist and the first Indian to carry out systematic bird surveys throughout the country. Ali wrote more than 20 books on the birds of the Indian subcontinent and helped popularize the study of ornithology in the region, earning him the sobriquet “Birdman of India.” He was also instrumental in guiding the growth of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS)—India’s oldest scientific organization for nature conservation and research. His efforts led to the establishment of the Bharatpur bird sanctuary (present-day Keoladeo National Park) in Rajasthan, and to the preservation of the Silent Valley National Park in Kerala.

Early life and education

Ali grew up at the home of his maternal uncle Amiruddin Tyabji and aunt Hamida Begum, having lost his parents when he was very young. Tyabji, a hunter and one of the first Indian members of the BNHS, encouraged Ali’s interest in the natural world. When Ali, a curious young boy, wanted to know about a bird he had shot with the airgun that Tyabji had gifted him, his uncle suggested he seek the help of BNHS experts. Walter Samuel Millard, then BNHS secretary, identified the bird (a yellow-throated sparrow) and showed Ali the society’s collections, sparking his lifelong interest in birds.

Ali managed to complete a bachelor’s degree in zoology at St. Xavier’s College, Bombay, in 1917–18 despite interruptions in his studies due to ill health and an early dislike of algebra and logarithms, which he required to learn before he could study biology. Although he did not pursue further formal education, he learned a lot from his practical experience and a keen observation of nature. His stays with relatives in Sindh (in present-day Pakistan) in 1910 and in Burma (now Myanmar) from 1914 to 1917 gave him valuable opportunities to hone his skills as a birder. Burma proved pivotal in deepening his passion for the outdoors. During his gap years before graduation and soon after finishing college, Ali spent a total of 10 years (1914–17 and 1919–24) in that country, assisting his relatives in their mining and timber ventures. Although the businesses failed, he later recalled that his time there was “highly congenial and rewarding from the sport and natural history angle.” These experiences also affirmed his calling as an ornithologist.

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Upon his return to India from Burma, however, Ali had to set aside his ornithological pursuits. He was rejected for an ornithologist position advertised by the Zoological Survey of India because other candidates had higher qualifications than him. Eventually, Ali secured the post of guide-lecturer in the newly established natural history section of the Prince of Wales Museum in Bombay (now the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya) in 1926. While working there, realizing he wanted more training in the field of ornithology, his true calling, he wrote to experts in the United Kingdom and Germany seeking training opportunities. On the invitation from the eminent ornithologist Erwin Stresemann, Ali traveled to Germany in 1929 to train in systematic and field ornithology at the Berlin University Zoological Museum (now Museum für Naturkunde Berlin—the Natural History Museum of Berlin). This nine-month study leave gave him the opportunity to master the intricacies of bird taxonomy and to meet prominent German biologists, including Ernst Mayr, Bernhard Rensch, and Oskar Heinroth, whose research influenced his subsequent work.

Career and contributions

On returning from Germany in 1930, Ali found himself without a job as his position at the museum had been abolished because of a lack of funds. He turned this setback into an opportunity by proposing to the BNHS a project to conduct systematic bird surveys in India’s princely states (autonomous territories in colonial India under indirect British rule). He offered his services pro bono, requesting from the BNHS and the princely states only enough funds to cover his travel and camping expenses. Beginning with Hyderabad, Ali mapped the avifauna of several princely states in the next 20 years. His subsequent expeditions took him to far corners of the Indian subcontinent, to places such as Afghanistan, Tibet, and Malaya (the British-controlled states on the Malay Peninsula). The published accounts of the identity, habitats, and behavior of his subjects established him as the foremost Indian ornithologist of his time.

Ali’s pioneering study of the baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) published in 1931 first brought him to prominence. Over the next five decades, he studied thousands of birds, from endemic species such as the Nilgiri flycatcher (Eumyias albicaudatus) to migratory birds such as the Siberian crane (Leucogeranus leucogeranus). He also wrote prolifically on his study subjects, producing field guides, journal articles, and popular and academic books, as well as extensive correspondence. His most popular works include the seminal The Book of Indian Birds (1941) and the ten-volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (1968–74) coauthored with American ornithologist S. Dillon Ripley—both considered the benchmark for birdwatching on the Indian subcontinent. Ali’s autobiography, The Fall of a Sparrow (1985), engagingly recounts his journey from a curious boy intrigued by a sparrow’s yellow neck to a renowned ornithologist.

As the curator, secretary, and eventually president of BNHS, Sálim Ali ensured that the society, with which he was associated until his death, continued to be India’s premier environmental institution. He persuaded India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to extend government support to the organization. The University of Bombay recognized BNHS as a research institution capable of training postgraduate field ornithologists under Ali’s guidance. He also served as the editor of the society’s journal.

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Awards and honors

In 1953 Ali received the Joy Gobinda Law Medal from the Asiatic Society of Bengal for contributions to Asiatic zoology research. This was followed by a slew of other national honors, such as the Padma Bhushan (1958) and the Padma Vibhushan (1976) from the government of India, and the C.V. Raman Medal (1979) from the Indian National Science Academy. He was also awarded the National Research Professorship in Ornithology in 1982. Ali received three honorary doctorates and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha—the upper house of the Indian Parliament—in 1985.

In recognition of his contributions to ornithology and wildlife conservation, Ali received the Union Gold Medal (1967) from the British Ornithologists’ Union (becoming the first non-British person to achieve this feat), the John C. Phillips Memorial Medal (1969) from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the Order of the Golden Ark (1973) from Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize (1976), and the International Conservation Award (1983) from the National Wildlife Federation in the United States.

Several species are named after the ornithologist for his contributions to natural history, including the Himalayan forest thrush (Zoothera salimalii), Salim Ali’s swift (Apus salimalii), and Salim Ali’s fruit bat (Latidens salimalii). The Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) was set up in his honor at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu by the Indian government in 1990.