25/08/2026
At 10, Salim Ali shot down a bird with a toy gun. What happened next changed the way India studied birds.
The bird looked like a house sparrow, except for a strange yellow patch on its throat. Instead of simply moving on, young Salim wanted to know: What bird was this?
That one question took him to the Bombay Natural History Society, where W.S. Millard identified it as a yellow-throated sparrow and introduced him to a world of preserved specimens, books and India’s incredible bird diversity.
That curiosity never left him.
Salim Ali went on to travel across the subcontinent, studying birds where they actually lived — forests, wetlands, deserts, mountains and grasslands. His field surveys created some of India’s earliest scientific records of birdlife and helped lay the foundation for modern ornithology here.
He authored more than 20 books, helped make birdwatching accessible to ordinary Indians, and played a role in protecting places such as Bharatpur and Silent Valley.
From a child trying to identify one unusual bird to becoming the ‘Birdman of India’, Salim Ali’s story leaves us with a simple reminder:
Changing the world begins with nothing more than being curious enough to ask questions.
Read more about him on our website : https://thebetterindia.com/changemakers/salim-ali-sparrows-indias-birdman-12250443
[Salim Ali, Birdman of India, Indian ornithology, bird conservation India, Indian birds]
