‘The charm of birdwatching is intact’
For editor, author and bibliographer Aasheesh Pittie, birdwatching is a lifelong philosophical pursuit rather than a pastime. His latest book, The living air: The pleasures of birds and birdwatching, is a set of essays on his birding journey, written over 30 years. Pittie spoke to Down To Earth about birdwatching. Edited excerpts:
Rajat Ghai (RG): You write that birdwatching is about becoming invisible and merging with the surroundings. In today’s chaotic world, is such invisibility achievable?
Aasheesh Pittie (AP): What I suggest is a sensibility and an approach that will bring the watcher closer to the bird and create a relationship and understanding between the two. This relationship is necessary to understand the oneness of all life on Earth. But it depends on your motive. The type of birding I suggest is not possible if you practise it as a form of activism. For instance, if birdwatching is undertaken as part of environmental impact assessments, the time given is so short that it would have to be a hurried affair. The same can be said if you are birding with the aim of seeing the most species.
RG: What do you think about the belief that birdwatching is an activity of the privileged?
AP: The number of birders in India is so large that it belies this point. Birders today belong every demographic that one can imagine, and none of them talks of privilege or the lack of it. It is only those who do not wish to take time for birdwatching, that make these statements.
RG: Have new technologies and social media diluted the charm of birdwatching?
AP: The fact is that birdwatching is booming in this age of social media. This boom would not have happened had the tools of birding not improved or changed. The charm too is still here, not in the activity, but in the birds that are watched.
RG: Do you believe birdwatching has a role in assessing and reducing the impacts of climate change?
AP: If the pace of human devastation of life and habitats on Earth continues, we will all be its victims. Birdwatchers and naturalists globally are aware of this tragic folly. Their extensive travel and documentation makes them among the first canaries on the Earth to warn of the repercussions of environmental damage caused by humankind.
This was first published in the 16-31 August, 2023 print edition of Down To Earth