The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publishes the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Many prominent naturalists, including the ornithologists Sálim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley, have been associated with it.
The red-wattled lapwing is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicators of human or animal movements and the sounds have been variously rendered as did he do it or pity to do it leading to the colloquial name of did-he-do-it bird. Usually seen in pairs or small groups not far from water, they sometimes form large aggregations in the non-breeding season (winter). They nest in a ground scrape laying three to four camouflaged eggs. Adults near the nest fly around, diving at potential predators while calling noisily. The cryptically patterned chicks hatch and immediately follow their parents to feed, hiding by lying low on the ground or in the grass when threatened.
Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several bird books that popularized ornithology in India. He became a key figure behind the Bombay Natural History Society after 1947 and used his personal influence to garner government support for the organisation, create the Bharatpur bird sanctuary and prevent the destruction of what is now the Silent Valley National Park.
Loten's sunbird, also known as the long-billed sunbird or maroon-breasted sunbird, is a sunbird endemic to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Named after Joan Gideon Loten, who was the Dutch governor of colonial Ceylon, it is very similar to the purple sunbird that is found in the same areas and also tends to hover at flowers for nectar, but can be distinguished by the longer bill, the maroon band on the breast and brownish wings. Like other sunbirds, it is also insectivorous and builds characteristic hanging nests.
Humayun Abdulali was an Indian ornithologist and biologist who was also a cousin of the "birdman of India", Salim Ali. Like other naturalists of his period, he took an initial interest in shikar (hunting). Unlike Sálim Ali, his main contributions were less field-oriented and based more on bird collections, particularly those at the Bombay Natural History Society where he worked for most of his life.
Biswamoy Biswas was an Indian ornithologist who was born in Calcutta, the son of a professor of geology. In 1947, he was awarded a three-year fellowship by Sunderlal Hora, then director of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI). It enabled him to study at the British Museum, at the Berlin Zoological Museum under Erwin Stresemann and also at the American Museum of Natural History under Ernst Mayr.
Charles McFarlane Inglis FES, FZS was a naturalist and curator of the Darjeeling museum in India from 1923 to 1948. The museum was run by the Bengal Natural History Society and many of his writings were published in that society's journal which he started and edited.
The rain quail or black-breasted quail is a species of quail found in the Indian Sub-continent and South-east Asia; its range including Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Nicholson Betts was a coffee plantation manager, British Indian Army officer, a political agent, and an ornithologist.
The yellow-throated sparrow or chestnut-shouldered petronia is a species of sparrow found in southern Asia.
Stanley Henry Prater was a domiciled British naturalist in India best known as a long-time affiliate of the Bombay Natural History Society and the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India, Bombay, as curator of both institutions for the better part of three decades, and as author of The Book of Indian Animals. Prater represented the Anglo-Indian and domiciled British community in the Bombay Legislative Assembly from 1937 to 1947.
Walter Samuel Millard (1864–1952) was a British entrepreneur and naturalist who was honorary secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society, editor of the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society from 1906 to 1920, co-author of the classic, Some Beautiful Indian Trees, and the driving force behind the Mammal Survey of the Indian subcontinent conducted by the society between 1911 and 1923.
Jivanayakam Cyril Daniel, or J. C., as he was known, was an Indian naturalist from Nagercoil, and the author of several acclaimed books on birds, mammals, and reptiles.
The black-breasted weaver, also known as the Bengal weaver or black-throated weaver, is a weaver resident in the northern river plains of the Indian subcontinent. Like the other weavers, the males build an enclosed nest from reeds and mud, and visiting females select a mate at least partially based on the quality of the nest.
Zafar Rashid Futehally was an Indian naturalist and conservationist best known for his work as the secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society and for the Newsletter for Birdwatchers a periodical that helped birdwatchers around India to communicate their observations. Awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in the year 1971, Zafar Futehally was also honoured with Dutch order of merit the Order of the Golden Ark in 1981 and Karnataka Rajyotsava award by the Government of Karnataka in 1983.
Syed Abdulla Hussain was an Indian ornithologist. He is best known for the work he undertook at the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) along with Salim Ali. A species of frog Nyctibatrachus hussaini from Kudremukh near his home, was named after him but the species name later became embroiled in controversy.
The grey-headed swamphen is a species of swamphen occurring from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, but was elevated to full species status in 2015; today the purple swamphen is considered a superspecies and each of its six subspecies groups are designated full species.
Ravi Sankaran was an Indian ornithologist whose work concerned the conservation of several threatened birds of India. He was the Director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu from 12-June-2008 till his death
Vadayil Sankaran Vijayan is an Indian environmentalist, wildlife biologist, ornithologist, an admirer of naturopathy and the founding Director of the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History. He is currently the chairman of the Salim Ali Foundation.
K. S. R. Krishna Raju was an Indian ornithologist who worked extensively in the Eastern Ghats of Vishakapatnam. He conducted multiple avifaunal surveys, ringed birds and collaborated with other ornithologists including Dillon Ripley and Salim Ali. His studies provided weight to the Satpura hypothesis proposed by Sunder Lal Hora that the Eastern Ghats was part of a former continuum of habitats between the northeast of India and the Western Ghats with affinities to those in Southeast Asia. A subspecies of Abbott's babbler, Malacocincla abbotti krishnarajui, discovered around Visakhapatnam Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, was named in his honour, "for his efforts to promote the survey and conservation of the natural resources of the Eastern Ghats."
