WHERE HAVE THE BIRDS GONE? : Empty nests. Quiet skies. One question.

WHERE HAVE THE BIRDS GONE? : Empty nests. Quiet skies. One question.

(Author: Asad Rahmani)

A deeply compelling, urgent ecological work from one of India's foremost ornithologists, examining the vanishing avian species, quiet dawn choruses, and the alarming crisis facing India’s natural habitats.

India has long been a land alive with vibrant birdsong, but something profound and unsettling is changing. Across the subcontinent, birds are quietly slipping away—lost to vanishing forests, intensive pesticide use, aggressive urbanization, and the lethal net of high-voltage power lines and large dams redrawing the landscape.

Some absences, like the critically endangered Great Indian Bustard and the elusive White-bellied Heron, are stark and devastating. But other losses are subtle, quieter, and far easier to overlook. Species that were once everyday sights—such as drongos, rollers, and sparrows—no longer gather as they once did. Year by year, the dawn chorus that once stitched night to morning grows softer, frays, and fades away.

In Where Have the Birds Gone?, Dr. Asad Rahmani—former director of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS)—offers intimate, searching accounts of species on the brink. Tracing their alarming decline, he paints a stark picture of an ecosystem nearing its own Silent Spring, posing a vital question: what does the silence of our birds portend for human survival?

Key Features:

• Written by a Renowned Ornithologist: Authored by Dr. Asad Rahmani, one of India’s leading conservationists and long-serving director of the BNHS.

• In-Depth Focus on Indian Wildlife: Examines both critically endangered birds (Great Indian Bustard, White-bellied Heron) and fast-disappearing common species.

• Urgent Environmental Message: Unpacks the systemic causes of species collapse—habitat destruction, power infrastructure, agricultural chemicals, and climate change.

• Essential for Nature & Science Lovers: A must-read for birdwatchers, conservationists, ecology students, environmentalists, and non-fiction readers interested in Indian natural history.