Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (1896-1987) was an Indian ornithologist, naturalist and a Padma Bhushan awardee. He is also known as the ‘Birdman of India.’ He was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India.
Wiki/Biography
Salim Ali was born on Thursday, 12 November 1896 (age 90 years; at the time of death) in Khetwadi, Mumbai. He started schooling at The Queen Mary School along with his two sisters. He then got admitted to St. Xavier’s School. He went to Sind, Pakistan around the age of 13 to stay with one of his uncles as he suffered from chronic headaches. He passed the matriculation exam of the Bombay University in 1913. He then dropped out of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai and went to Tavoy, Burma (now Myanmar) to help his family in wolfram mining. After his return in 1917, he studied commercial law and accountancy at Davar’s College of Commerce, Mumbai. While studying at Davar’s College, he attended zoology classes at St. Xavier’s College. In 1928, he went to Germany, where he worked under Professor Erwin Stresemann at the Natural History Museum, Berlin.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Hair Colour: White
Eye Colour: Black
Family & Caste
Salim Ali was born into a Sulaimani Bohra family in Bombay.
Parents & Siblings
Salim Ali was the ninth and youngest child of Moizuddin Abdul Ali and Zeenat-un-nissa. His father died when he was a year old and his mother died when he was three. After the death of his parents, he lived with his maternal uncle, Amiruddin Tyabji, and his aunt, Hamida Begum.
Wife & Children
Salim Ali got married to Tehmina, a distant relative, in December 1918. They had no children. Her father was in a Pearl business and also in the Indian Council in London. She was well-versed in English and Urdu. She supported Salim Ali in the surveys conducted by him. She died in 1939 following a minor surgery. The subspecies of the black-rumped flameback found in the Western Ghats is named after his wife – ‘Dinopium benghalense tehminae.’
A picture of Salim Ali with his wife Tehmina
Other Relatives
Another uncle of Salim, Abbas Tyabji, was a well-known Indian freedom fighter. A distant cousin of Salim Ali, Iskandar Mirza, was a marksman and the first President of Pakistan.
Signature/Autograph
Salim Ali’s signature
Career
Guide lecturer
In 1926, he was hired as a guide lecturer at the natural history section of the Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai. He then took a study leave in 1928 and went to Germany. When he returned in 1930, the position was closed for economic reasons.
Ornithologist
In 1930, he discovered an opportunity to conduct a systematic bird survey in India. He went to the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) with the proposal of ornithological surveys. He started the survey at Hyderabad (1931–32) with the sponsorship of the rulers of the state. He got about 6000 Rupees for a survey of six months. He then conducted surveys in Cochin, Travancore, Gwalior, Indore and Bhopal with the sponsorship of their rulers. The survey in Cochin and Travancore was done in 1933, and the survey in Bhopal, Indore and Gwalior was done in 1938. Hugh Whistler supported Salim Ali in conducting these surveys. Salim Ali did a study on baya weaver birds in Kihim. In a research paper published by him, he discussed the study of the breeding of the baya weaver and the discovery of their mating system of sequential polygamy. The Finn’s Weaver species was rediscovered in Kumaon Terai in 1959 by Salim Ali. Salim Ali also did surveys in many states after the Independence including Orissa (1948–49), Berar (1951), Sikkim (1952–53), Bhutan (1966–69), Goa (1972), and Arunachal Pradesh (1979–82). During his stay in Germany, Salim learnt bird ringing at the Heligoland Bird Observatory.
Author
Salim Ali had written ‘The Book of Indian Birds’ published in 1941. It discussed the kinds and habits of Indian birds. He then wrote “Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan” with Dillon Ripley. It is also known as “the handbook”. The handbook discusses the birds of the subcontinent, their habitat, migration, breeding habits and appearance.
Salim Ali (second from the left) on a research expedition with Mary Livingston Ripley and S. Dillon Ripley for the Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan in 1976.
He wrote an autobiography “The Fall of a Sparrow” in 1985. He also wrote “Common Birds” in 1967 and published several books on regional birds like – The Birds of Kerala, The Birds of Kutch, Indian Hill Birds, The Birds of Sikkim, and Birds of the Eastern Himalayas.
Other Contributions
Salim Ali helped to save the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru seeking monetary help for BNHS. He supported and promoted the development of ornithology in India. He played a very active role in the research on Kyasanur Forest Disease. In the 1960s, he also helped to establish an economic ornithology unit within the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Salim Ali provided support to the Silent Valley movement by visiting the valley and appealing for the cancellation of the hydroelectric project. He helped to get the government’s support for creating the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary and the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary. To decrease the number of bird hits at Indian airfields he headed a project at BNHS. He also started a project to study house sparrows in 1963.
Salim Ali in Bharatpur National Park around 1980
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- In 1953, the Joy Gobinda Law Gold Medal by the Asiatic Society of Bengal
- In 1958, awarded the Padma Bhushan
- In 1976, awarded the Padma Vibhushan
A picture of Salim Ali receiving the Padma Vibhushan in 1976
- In 1970, awarded the Sunder Lal Hora Memorial Medal of the Indian National Science Academy
- In 1967, the Gold Medal of the British Ornithologists’ Union
- In 1969, the John C. Phillips Memorial Medal of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
- In 1973, Pavlovsky Centenary Memorial Medal by The USSR Academy of Medical Sciences
Honorary Doctorates
- In 1958, from the Aligarh Muslim University
- In 1973, from the Delhi University
- In 1978, from the Andhra University
Legacy
Awards
- In 1995, Dr Salim Ali National Wildlife Fellowship Award was started by the Ministry of Environment and Forests for Research and Experimental projects on avian wildlife and mammalian wildlife.
Places
- For the conservation of India’s biodiversity, the Ministry established the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) in Coimbatore. It was established in 1990 to promote sustainability with the help of research, education and people’s participation with birds.
- “Dr Salim Ali Chowk” in Mumbai is named after Salim Ali. The BNHS headquarters is located at this chowk.
- Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences was established by Pondicherry University.
- Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary was set up by the government of Goa in 1988 and the Thattakad Bird Sanctuary established in 1983 near Vembanad in Kerala is also known by the name of Salim Ali.
Birds
- Whistler dedicated Perdicula argoondah salimalii, a subspecies of the rock bush quail, to Salim Ali. Also, Abdulali dedicated Ploceus megarhynchus salimalii, the eastern population of Finn’s weaver, to Salim Ali.
- In 2016, the Himalayan forest thrush was named Zoothera salimalii. It is named after Salim Ali. The bird was discovered in 2009.
- In 1972, a new species of the world’s rarest bats was discovered by Kitti Thonglongya which he called Latidens salimalii.
- Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is named after Salim Ali.
Bike Collection
Salim Ali was passionate about bike riding. His first bike was a 3.5 HP NSU in Tavoy. He also owned a Sunbeam, three models of Harley-Davidsons, a Douglas, a Scott, a New Hudson, a Zenith and many others.
A photograph of Salim Ali on his bike
Death
Salim Ali died on 20 June 1987 due to prostate cancer.
Facts/Trivia
- Salim’s uncle gifted him an air gun when he was ten years old. He shot a sparrow and found a yellow streak below its neck. To recognize the bird, he went to the Bombay Natural History Society where W. S. Millard, Secretary of BNHS, identified the bird as the Yellow-throated Sparrow, the Petronia xanthocollis. He also showed the collection of birds at BNHS. Salim was fascinated by the collection of birds at BNHS that W. S. Millard showed and became interested in pursuing a career in ornithology.
A photograph of the yellow-throated sparrow
- He shipped his Sunbeam from Bombay on an invitation to the 1950 International Ornithological Congress at Uppsala in Sweden. He travelled around Europe on his bike and was injured in a minor accident in France and also had several falls on cobbled roads in Germany.
- During his stay in Burma, he came into contact with forest department officials J C Hopwood and Berthold Ribbentrop. They helped Salim learn about the birds in Burma.
- Due to the absence of a university degree, Salim Ali was not able to get an ornithologist’s position at the Zoological Survey of India.
- Salim Ali used the amount of $100,000 for the Salim Ali Nature Conservation Fund. The amount came from the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize that Salim Ali received in 1967.
- A popular article written by Salim Ali in 1930 was reprinted in The Indian Express on his birthday in 1984. The title of the article was, “Stopping by the Woods on a Sunday Morning.”
- ‘The Fall of a Sparrow’ is the autobiography of Salim Ali.
A picture of ‘The Fall of a Sparrow,’ an autobiography of Salim Ali
- The birth anniversary of Salim Ali is also celebrated as Birdwatchers’ Day.
- Salim Ali was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1985.
- The role of Akshay Kumar in the film 2.0 directed by Indian filmmaker S. Shankar in 2018 is inspired by Salim Ali.
- The Postal Department of the Government of India released a set of two postal stamps on 12 November 1996 for his 100th birth Anniversary.
Commemorative stamps released for the 100th birth anniversary of Salim Ali
- “Salim Mamoo and Me” was written by his niece Zai Whitaker about her childhood with him.
A picture of the book “Salim Mamoo and Me” written by Zai Whitaker
- ‘The Boy Who Loved Birds’ is the childhood story of Salim Ali written by Lavanya Karthik.
A picture of the book ‘The Boy Who Loved Birds’ written by Lavanya Karthik
- Salim Ali was interested in photography. He travelled with Loke Wan Tho photographing the birds of different regions. Loke Wan Tho developed an interest in ornithology after he came into contact with Salim Ali.
- Salim Ali did his first behavioural study on a female sparrow. It was published in the Newsletter for Birdwatchers after 60 years.
The first behavioural study by Salim Ali
- During his stay in Germany, Salim was introduced to notable German ornithologists like Bernhard Rensch, Oskar Heinroth, Rudolf Drost and Ernst Mayr. He also met Chempakaraman Pillai, a well-known freedom fighter, in Berlin.
