ADVERTISEMENT
site_logo
  • Campus
  • Happening
  • Opinion
  • People
  • News
  • #BeInspired
  • Careers
  • 40 under 40
  • Exams
  • What The FAQ
  • Videos
    • Straight Up
    • Odisha Literary Festival 2020
    • Campus Convo
    • Careers After Corona
    • Express Expressions
    • Q&A With Prabhu Chawla
    • ThinkEdu Awards 2020
  • Web Stories
  • edex_worksEDEXWORKS
ADVERTISEMENT
Birds of Odisha

Published: 03rd April 2019     

This father-daughter duo just documented all the bird species in Odisha. Here's what they found

Their book, Birds of Odisha, has been published by Dhara Sreeradha Publications. Through the course of this journey, Dhal had his daughter, Gloria Dhal, for company

 

Seema Rajpal
Edex Live
f_icon t_icon i_icon l_icon koo_icon whatsapp_icon email_icon Google News

Share Via Email

Pramod and Gloria Dhal

Pramod and Gloria Dhal | (Pic: Pramod Dhal)

When Pramod Dhal was a child, a barber would come visiting his place in Argal, a village in Odisha, and perched on the barber's shoulder would be birds of different kinds. Dhal believes that it was in this moment that a fascination for birds took root in his heart. So even though life took him to Mumbai, where he pursued his higher studies from Bombay University, and later, to the Navy as the current Senior Superintendent of Central GST and Customs in Bhubaneswar, Dhal's love for birds remained steadfast in his heart. In 2012, Dhal began his quest of birdwatching and documenting them. Through the course of this journey, Dhal had his daughter, Gloria Dhal, for company. Not only did she inherit his love for birds, but she even nurtured a love for photography. "My father is my guru," says Gloria, while the 59-year-old Pramod adds, "All our holidays were planned around this project of ours." 

 

 


The book was presented to the Governor of Odisha, Prof Ganeshi Lal and at the launch, politician Baijayant 'Jay' Panda was present


 

 

The result of all this toil is the book Birds of Odisha, which extensively documents 316 species of birds that are found in this coastal state. But when we ask Dhal about the book, he says, "We never planned for a book, we just kept documenting. One has to be still and silent, especially while photographing birds and yet, be careful of other harmful animals around. I've become an expert snake catcher as well because of this," he laughs as he shares his experiences of photographing these birds in the deepest of jungles. Must have been tough, we reckon. "Yes, but just like rishis went into the jungle for meditation, you can call this my meditation," says Dhal and smiles. While the photography credit goes to the Dhals, the treasure trove of information that the book holds has been gathered from observation and several reference books like Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Bikram Grewal and more. And what kind of information can one expect? Everything, we are told — from nesting to eating and so on.  

Birds of Odisha book

But the book isn't their first attempt to spread awareness about these beautiful creatures. Their first exhibition was held back in 2014 at Orissa Modern Art Gallery, Bhubaneswar. Several school children attended this event and the father-daughter duo even went on to exhibit at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi, wherein politician LK Advani was also in attendance, shares Dhal nostalgically. "Most school children are not aware of Odisha's diversity when it comes to birds, so this was an important step for us," says 27-year-old Gloria, who pursued her master's from KIIT University. The shy and introverted Gloria was mesmerised by the jungle and clicked away in aesthetic angles, we are informed. "She is more knowledgable when it comes to wildlife photography," gushes her father. Well, what's clear is that the duo makes a wonderful team!

 

 

Five rare birds of Odisha 

 

Mangrove pitta

Pitta megarhyncha

Scientific name: Pitta megarhyncha
Conservation status: Near Threatened 

This bird is only found in the mangrove forests of Odisha and has only been documented in Bhitarkanika National Park. This is a species of passerine bird in the Pittidae family native to Southeast Asia and South Asia. It is part of a superspecies, but has no recognised subspecies. The Mangrove Pitta was first described by German ornithologist Hermann Schlegel in 1863. Its species name is derived from the Ancient Greek words mega meaning 'large' and rhynchos meaning 'beak'. 


 

Indian skimmer or Indian scissors-bill 

Rynchops albicollis

Scientific name: Rynchops albicollis
Conservation status: Vulnerable

The Indian skimmer is one of the three species that belong to the skimmer family. They have a short upper mandible and the longer lower mandible that is ploughed along the surface of water as the bird flies over the water to pick aquatic prey. They are mainly found in rivers or estuaries. They are brightly marked in black, white and orange, making it difficult to miss them. The population is about 6,000–10,000 and is mainly found within India and Pakistan. 


 

Brown-winged kingfisher 

Pelargopsis amauroptera

Scientific name: Pelargopsis amauroptera
Conservation status: Near Threatened

The brown-winged kingfisher is a species of bird belonging to the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests. In India, it has been mainly reported in the Sundarbans region and Bhitarkanika mangrove forest. In Odisha, this bird has only been documented in Bhitarkanika National Park.


 

Dusky eagle-owl 

Bubo coromandus

Scientific name: Bubo coromandus
Conservation status: Least Concern 

This is the first ever sighting and documentation of this bird by the authors in Odisha. There is no other image of this bird documented until 2016. This is a species of owl belonging to the family Strigidae that is widespread in Bangladesh, China, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand. Mango tree groves, old tamarind trees and other densely foliaged trees are preferred by them. Their nesting season is from November to April. 


 

The mottled wood owl

Strix ocellata

Scientific name: Strix ocellata
Conservation status: Least Concern 

This is a species of large owl found in India. They are found in gardens and thin deciduous forests adjacent to dry thorn forests or farmland. They are easily detected by their distinctive tremulous eerie calls at dawn and dusk. The characteristic call is a duet of the male and female while other notes include a low hoot and a screech. Their large size, lack of 'ear' tufts and the concentric barring on the face make them easy to identify.


 

 

Pramod Dhal

All smiles: Pramod Dhal with dignitaries LK Advani and Baijayant 'Jay' Panda | (Pic: Pramod Dhal)

 

For more on them, click on facebook.com/pramodkd6

telegram
TAGS
Birds of Odisha Bombay University university Book

O
P
E
N

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
telegram
ADVERTISEMENT
Write to us!

If you have campus news, views, works of art, photos or just want to reach out to us, just drop us a line.

newsletter_icon
Mailbox
edexlive@gmail.com
fb_icon
Facebook
twitter_icon
Twitter
insta_icon
Instagram
ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook
ADVERTISEMENT
Tweets by Xpress_edex
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

FOLLOW US

The New Indian Express | The Morning Standard | Dinamani | Kannada Prabha | Samakalika Malayalam | Cinema Express | Indulgexpress | Events Xpress

Contact Us | About Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Advertise With Us

Home | Live Now | Live Story | Campus Trip | Coach Calling | Live Take

Copyright - edexlive.com 2023. All rights reserved. Website Designed, Developed & Maintained by Express Network Private Ltd.