Indian Birds
Indian Birds is a bi-monthly ornithology journal/newsletter that was established in 2004. It was formerly published under the heading Newsletter for Ornithologists for one year. It publishes articles on identification, distribution, migration, conservation and taxonomy, apart from reports of significant ornithological sightings and events. Published from Hyderabad, the publication is owned by New Ornis Foundation.
Overview
In 2006, the Bugun liocichla, a new bird species from Arunachal Pradesh was described by Ramana Athreya in this journal. The description of the bird carried in the journal was made without the collection of a type specimen as they were too few to risk killing one. Though this practice was not unprecedented, with four prior instances, the pure charisma of the bird together with this practice created a controversy in the scientific and conservation community on the costs and benefits of this approachThe journal has published 683 articles in its first eight volumes. Nearly 125 of these articles are referenced in the text of Handbook of the Birds of the World online.
In 2016, Indian Birds published the official bird checklist for the country
Aasheesh Pittie has been the editor of this journal since its inception. Zafar Futehally, who founded Newsletter for Birdwatchers in 1960, served as editor emeritus until his death in 2013.
The first south Asian records of the following species were published in this journal.
- Cory's shearwater, Calonectris borealis
- Sabine's gull, Xema sabini
- Blue-winged pitta, Pitta moluccensis
- Black-browed bushtit, Aegithalos bonvaloti
- Crested tit-warbler, Leptopoecile elegans
- Yunnan nuthatch, Sitta yunnanensis
- Chinese thrush Zoothera mupinensis
- Mugimaki flycatcher, Ficedula mugimaki
- Tristram's bunting, Emberiza tristrami
- Short-tailed shearwater, Ardenna tenuirostris
- Long-tailed jaeger, Stercorarius longicaudus
- Woodchat shrike, Lanius senator
- Asian stubtail, Urosphena squameiceps
Some of the special issues published include