Pampore: Turning his childhood fascination into an unwavering passion, a young researcher from Pampore area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district has documented 677 bird species of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in his debut book.

Parvaiz Yousuf, a resident of Lalpora Chatlam in Pampore area has written his first book titled ‘Birds of J&K’ including Ladakh containing Kashmiri and Dogri names of the birds including their scientific and common English names.

Parvaiz said that he grew up alongside banks of Chatlam Wetland Reserve in Pampore and was captivated with the treasure of bird life in the area.

He was initially aware about the traditional names of the birds and day by day he became fond of birds and started knowing, learning more about them, he said.

He said that the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department organized the first-ever bird festival in Pahalgam last year, and I volunteered for it, however, while interacting with numerous students I was informed that there is no book written on bird species of J&K.

“That day I decided to write a book and after completion of my degree, I wrote the book and while performing the job, I had to reach to different bird photographers to get photographs,” he said.

He said that birds of Jammu and Kashmir, including Ladakh, is a first-of-its-kind detailed pictorial book in the history of the Jammu & Kashmir region that covers 677 distinct bird species found in the North-western Himalayas (Jammu & Kashmir) and Trans Himalayas (Ladakh).

“The book contains over 2000 coloured pictures of 677 bird species along with over 60000 words of content. The book almost contains pictures of all male, female, juvenile, breeding and non-breeding bird species,” he said.

“Being first of its kind, the book will serve as a baseline for bird watchers and researchers in the region. This book offers scientific names, common English names, bird families, vernacular names in Kashmiri, Dogri and Ladakhi (wherever known), distribution, size, IUCN status, and short bird descriptions. It also provides detailed information on Important Bird Areas (IBAS) in all the three regions, rare bird species found in the region, bird topography, the number of threatened birds in the region, and much more,” he added.

Parvaiz said that this book is vital literary material for all birders, researchers, school and college students, and academicians in the region.

Parvaiz who himself is a certified birder, bird guide, writer, researcher, said that after  completing his Integrated BSc- MSc Zoology degree in 2022 from the Central University of Kashmir, Ganderbal, and qualifying National Eligibility Test (NET) in life sciences in the same year said that he has an abiding interest in ornithology and aims to pursue a PhD in the same field.

Parvaiz has served as the Director of the Wetland Research Centre for Wildlife Conservation Fund (WCF) since 2018, where he and his team focused on observing and studying migratory birds of four satellite wetlands of Pampore.

Currently, he is working as a Consultant and Researcher for the Climate Reality Project, India and South Asia.

He claimed that this is first-of-its-kind book on birds of this region and will definitely prove very beneficial for students, researchers and bird lovers.