“The sound comes again, through a rash of yellow flowers on the babool tree, through its thorns and thin leaves. It is the song of the Common Iora. The tone is so pure and fluty! The triple notes of its descending whistle have a tranquil, melancholic ring, which stirs my heartstrings as I listen, spellbound, transfixed. It’s a dreamy query which does not bring slumber. It rejuvenates the senses, rekindles the spirit, and sustains a vitality within me. It has a way of reaching the ear full, unblemished, unsullied, virginal. I feel as if a basic truth is being spoken, to no one in particular but for anyone who pays heed – it is there, in the open, on the babool, flaunted on the crest of the breeze. It is like so many truths of life which we take for granted just because they are there.”

Rich in descriptive detail, Aasheesh Pittie’s ‘The Living Air: The Pleasures of Birds and Birdwatching’ offers all its readers – from seasoned lister to the occasional birder – a new way to look at birds and bird-watching. One that focuses not on the number of species seen, or lifers totted, but the minutiae observed.

Many of the species encountered within the pages are not from dense forests or remote mountain-sides, but from the everyday city neighbourhood with its glossy drongos, gossiping owlets, hardworking barbets and communal sparrows. By doing this, the book will make you want to get out and observe your city and surroundings in a whole new light!

A collection of essays in four parts, ‘The Living Air’ (like the creatures it spotlights), glides effortlessly from pieces on different birds encountered by the author, on to his bird-watching forays in and around Hyderabad, before introducing us to some of the great birdwatchers and ornithologists who have shaped not just his ‘bird view’, but possibly his world-view too. It ends with a final section on the kind of bird-watching the author prefers. Accompanying the essays are brilliantly detailed illustrations by the artist Sangeetha Kadur – art is another way of seeing birds too! Informative, yet a joy to read, ‘The Living Air’ is an excellent introduction to the transformative pleasures of bird-watching.

About the author:

Aasheesh Pittie is the editor of the bird-watching journal Indian Birds. He has been the engine behind books such as ‘Birds in Books: Three Hundred Years of South Asian Ornithology’ and ‘The Written Bird: Birds in Books 2’. Aasheesh has also compiled a searchable bibliographic database of over 35,000 works on South Asian ornithology.

Link to buy the book: https://amzn.eu/d/fSi9rGf