Interesting
Facts
Nearly everyone enjoys birds: the beauty of their forms
and colouring, the vivacity of their movements, the buoyancy
of their flight and the sweetness of their song. It is
precisely on this account that as a pursuit for the out-of-doors,
bird watching stands in a class by itself. Its strong point
is that it can be indulged in with pleasure and profit
not only by the man who studies birds scientifically, but
also by one possessing no specialised knowledge. The latter,
moreover, is enabled to share his profit with the scientist
who for certain aspects of bird study has to depend entirely
upon data collected by the intelligent watcher.
-Salim Ali
It is amazing what tricks the imagination can play with undisciplined
observation. A person who, for example, notices a male
Paradise Flycatcher for the first time and is struck by
its exquisite tail-ribbons fluttering in the breeze, will,
as likely as not, and in all good faith, clothe his bird
in multi-coloured hues of green and blue and yellow and
red when describing it to you. The only real clue he furnishes
is the ribbon tail. Some days later you have an opportunity
of pointing out a Paradise Flycatcher to your enquirer
with a suitable suggestion, whereupon you promptly learn
that this indeed was the object of his ecstasy!
Yet it is equally amazing what small effort is needed to
discipline oneself to observe accurately. After a comparatively
short period of intelligent bird watching one can often become
so proficient that the mere glimpse of a bird as it flits
across from one bush to another-some distinctive flash of
colour, a peculiar twitch of the tail- is enough to suggest
its identity fairly reliably. If it is an unfamiliar species
this fleeting impression will often suffice to puzzle it
out with the aid of a bird book afterwards.
-Salim Ali
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