At Early Bird, we believe in sharing experiences and knowledge so we can grow as individuals, and a community. In keeping with that spirit, we have consolidated this list of resources. It encompasses organisations and initiatives from India and across the world, so dive in for inspiration! We hope that it will nudge you along in your journey as a birder. Also check out our resources for educators. 

GET STARTED: FOR BEGINNER LEVEL BIRDERS

1. Bird Count India has a series of online articles with information related to beginning birding and improving your skills.
2. A free e-book on 100 common birds of India, available for download.
3. An interactive poster on common birds, by the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education. 
4. Global repository of calls of all bird species, where you can search by species name, and also download the calls on xenocanto.
5. ‘Collins Birds of India’, by Martin Woodcock is an excellent illustrated introductory guide for beginners. 
6. Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Bird Academy has a number of online games for different age groups to explore various aspects of birds.
7. Illustrated story books on nature by Kalpavriksh.
8. ‘Bird Business’ by Rohan Chakravarty is a child-friendly guide to common Indian birds and their fascinating behaviours, in a comic book format that’s easy to read for children and adults. 
9. ‘The Jungle Radio: Bird Songs of India’ by Devangana Dash is a story for children about the language of birds. 
10. Deepak Dalal writes adventure stories for children that are set in India’s wild places
11. Youth for Nature is a magazine for young adults, featuring stories about India’s wildlife
12. A radio series in Hindi, on Birds of Kumaon (कुमाऊँ के पक्षी)
13. Our very own ‘The Wonder of Birds’ course is a fantastic starting point for your birding journey, even if we say so ourselves 🙂

KEEP GOING: FOR INTERMEDIATE LEVEL BIRDERS

1. ‘The Flock‘ is an India-focused newsletter that brings the joy and wonder of birds and nature into your inbox to which you can subscribe, and view the archives here. 
2. Podcasts about birds and nature, featuring people, destinations, issues and more. Mostly about Indian birds, featuring global issues and authors. 
3. Birds of the World is a comprehensive online database of all bird species and families with free access for users in India – you can register for a free account on eBird India.
4. Merlin app with information on different species and help with identification, be sure to install the bird pack relevant for your region, enjoy the app offline and explore the inbuilt bird calls.
5. ‘Understanding Bird Behaviour’ by Stephen Moss gives a good overview of aspects of bird behaviour, in simple language. 
6. There are a number of illustrated and photographic field guides available for the Indian subcontinent.  Salim Ali’s ‘Book of Indian Birds’ remains a classic for its excellent and accurate descriptions of birds and their behaviours. 
7. An online course on birds and birdwatching, from WWF India. 

SIMPLY THE BEST: FOR ADVANCED LEVEL BIRDERS

1. eBird, a platform for birders to document their observations in an online notebook.
2. ‘Bird Sense’ by Tim Birkhead presents scientific insights about how birds perceive the world, in lay terms and is for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of birds. 
3. Series of educational videos covering a range of topics on ornithological research and conservation. 
4. List of bird-related webinars hosted by various organizations since March 2020. 
5. Green Works Trust has produced a series of ‘When in Doubt; Try This Out’ booklets which give identification tips on common and confusing species of birds. You can request copies of the first two booklets (plovers and sandpipers; gulls and terns) by dropping an email to gwtnikhil(@)gmail(dot)com and download a copy of the third booklet (leaf warblers) for free from their website.

ONLINE RESOURCES: ON INDIAN WILDLIFE AND NATURE

1. Round Glass Sustain
2. Nature InFocus
3. JLR Explore
4. Sanctuary Nature Foundation
5. Conservation India
6. Indian Birds
7. Saevus
8. Wild Sojourns
9. Youth for Nature (Magazine for kids)
10. Ektara
11. Current Conservation Kids (Magazine)
12. The Youth Cosmo (print and digital periodical for kids)

ORGANISATIONS

A number of organisations work on nature education and outreach in India. They conduct public bird walks and organize bird and nature-related courses and webinars. 

1. Auroville
2. Bombay Natural History Society
3. Center for Environment Education 
4. Eco Edu
5. Kalpavriksh
6. Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History(SACON)
7. World Wide Fund for Nature India
8. Zoo Outreach Organization
9. Palluyir Trust

LOCAL BIRDING GROUPS

There are also birding groups in different cities that you could consider joining:

1. Birdwatchers’ Society (Kolkata/West Bengal)
2. Birdwatchers’ Field Club of Bangalore (Bangalore)
3. Chennai Young Naturalists’ Network (Chennai)
4. Deccan Birders (formerly Birdwatchers Society of Andhra Pradesh)
5. Hyderabad Birding Pals (Hyderabad)
6. Delhibird Foundation (Delhi/NCR)
7. Madras Naturalists’ Society (Chennai)
8. Mumbai Birdwatchers’ Club (MBC on Facebook)

This list is by no means comprehensive, do let us know if you know of others that should be included here.