Sálim Ali, born Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali, (November 12, 1896 - July 27, 1987), was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Known as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys in India and his books have contributed enormously to the development of professional and amateur ornithology in India.
Salim Ali was born into a Sulaimani Mustali Ismaili (Sulaimani Bohra) Muslim family of Bombay, the tenth and youngest child. He was orphaned at the age of ten, and brought up by his maternal uncle, Amiruddin Tyabji, and childless aunt, Hamida Begum, in a middle-class household in Khetwadi, Mumbai. Another uncle was Abbas Tyabji, well known Indian freedom fighter. Salim Ali was introduced to the serious study of birds by W. S. Millard, secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) who helped him identify an unusually coloured sparrow that he had shot for sport. Millard identified it as a Yellow-throated Sparrow, and showed him around the Society's collection of stuffed birds. This was a key event in his life and led to Salim's pursuit of a career in ornithology, an unusual career choice in those days. Salim Ali's cousin Humayun Abdulali also became an ornithologist.
Salim Ali's early education was at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Following a difficult first year in college, he dropped out and went to Tavoy, Burma to look after the family Wolfram (Tungsten) mining and timber interests there. The forests surrounding this area provided an opportunity for Ali to hone his naturalist (and hunting) skills. On his return to India in 1917, he resumed his education, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in Zoology. He married a distant relation, Tehmina in 1918.Ali failed to get an ornithologist's position at the Zoological Survey of India due to lack of sufficient academic qualifications. He however decided to study further after he was hired as guide lecturer in 1926 at the newly opened natural history section in the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai. He went on study leave in 1928 to Germany, where he trained under Professor Erwin Stresemann at the Zoological Museum of Berlin University.
On his return to India in 1930, he discovered that the guide lecturer position had been eliminated due to lack of funds. Unable to find a suitable job, Salim Ali and Tehmina moved to Kihim, a coastal village near Mumbai, where he began making his first observations of the Baya Weaver. The publication of his findings on the bird in 1930 brought him recognition in the field of ornithology.Ali undertook systematic bird surveys of the princely states, Hyderabad, Cochin, Travancore, Gwalior, Indore and Bhopal, under the sponsorship of the rulers of those states. He was aided in his surveys by advice from Hugh Whistler. Salim wrote "My chief interest in bird study has always been its ecology, its life history under natural conditions and not in a laboratory under a microscope. By travelling to these remote, uninhabited places, I could study the birds as they lived and behaved in their habitats."Hugh Whistler also introduced Salim to Richard Meinertzhagen and the two made an expedition into Afghanistan. Although Meinertzhagen had very critical views of him, they continued to remain good friends. Salim Ali found nothing amiss in Meinertzhagen's bird works but later studies have shown many of his studies to be fraudulent. Meinertzhagen later made his diary entries available to Salim and reproduced in his autobiographical Fall of a Sparrow.
Although recognition came late, he received numerous awards, some of which are
AwardsPadma Bhushan (1958)
Union Medal of the British Ornithologists' Union, a rarity for non-British citizens (1967)
The John C. Phillips Medal for Distinguished Service in International Conservation, from the World Conservation Union (1969)
Padma Vibhushan (1976)
J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize of the World Wildlife Fund (1976)
Commander of the Netherlands Order of the Golden Ark (1986)
He was elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1958. He also received three honorary doctorates and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1985.
Dr. Salim Ali died in 1987 at the age of 91 after a prolonged battle with prostate cancer.
