Once they inspired Wright Brothers, inventors of aeroplane, to write a new history and made human beings fly through the skies. Another time, they became alarm clock in villages and made villagers arise with every dawn before any alarm clock was invented. Yet again, they also became an indication of possible rain around some jungle much before mankind was able to develop any weather forecast.
Birds in India, a book by one of the most famous wildlife authors and an avid bird watcher AK Sahay is not just another book to tell such mythological stories associated with birds. Contrary to that, it is one of the most crisp, well-knit and one of the best visual supported books on birds. This book comprises short information about birds who find India a home, and also those who find India homely.
Unlike other such specialized works, Birds in India doesn’t run around detailed research like things about a bird or its history. It simply gives just a glimpse about basic feature of the bird and how it could be identified with one of the best pictorial depictions from a number of wildlife photographers. As Belinda Wright rightly says about the book, “Birds in India is a delightful book. Useful details accompany each photograph, including whether the bird is a resident or a summer or winter visitor.”
One of the best features of this 141-odd paged book published by Black Rose Publications (New Delhi) remains its readable font and informative short depiction of its biological family. This makes readership platform of the book larger than such specialised books usually entertain. Glossy pages and best possible pictorial presentation of the birds make the book not only sought of among those at travelling or bird watching, but also for those in who want to know at least something about birds which are usually and occasionally seen in India.