Whenever that sweet tinkling sound traverses through my balcony, my entire mood rejuvenates. I crane my neck, investigating its source, and scan my lushy green enclave for a soft jingling song. Tracing the tsee…tseer… notes, I rejoice with delight on spotting the chirpy, cute, bundle of joy— the Indian White-Eye.
“Why didn’t you spot the Tiha today, dear?” That’s what my mother used to remind me on the New Year eves, when I was a little child like you. The Indian Roller bird, or the Tiha in Odia, is a very good omen. Believed to be a harbinger of happiness, sighting it is considered auspicious, especially at the beginning of any major life event. In fact, such is the faith in its sanctity that its feathers are preserved as lucky charms. Do you know Odisha, Telangana, and Karnataka have also declared it as their state bird?
If there is ever a bird that can rival even a hulk in roaring aloud, then that birdy has to be the Brown-Headed Barbet. This little creature’s blaring decibels can screech through the morning silence and can knock anyone out of their afternoon siesta as well. Its challenging, almost enticing, avian call proceeds like: tur-r-r-r kutrook-kutrook-kutrook...
If there was ever a parliament of birds, then this avian would have delivered the most vociferous speeches. No doubt quirky artists caricatured it in their popular Angry Birds game. I’m sure you all must have enjoyed playing this viral pastime and gotten amused by the perpetual furious look on the birds' faces. Recognised as the most argumentative bird, the Jungle Babbler couldn’t be named more aptly...
This bird, the Oriental Magpie-Robin, is a master of vocabulary. It can mimic other birds and animals flawlessly. It is also as expressive and emotive as the late actor Irrfan Khan. It is vocal on emotions but expresses only when the need is unavoidable.
From pollinators to silk weavers, moths play a crucial role in our ecosystem. Discover their beauty, importance, and an incredible rearing journey!
A high schooler’s journey to uncover the mystery behind disappearing butterflies and some simple ways we can all conserve them.
An invitation to listen to the many ecological secrets, stories, and knowledges shared in our diverse mother tongues
Stories travel fast. Love stories travel faster. In the last couple of decades, Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14, has become a global festival. What is the green angle to it?
Its crown extends with a fineness and style as some royal aristocratic headgear. But the cinnamon-coloured plumage induces earthiness to its attitude. As it humbly blends into the woods, its black-white stripes flash a regal reminder. And as it walks thoughtfully on the ground, ‘hoopoe’ is what we admire.
An Introduction to Bacteria, Antibiotics and ‘Anti-Microbial Resistance.’ Contest included!
Bijal Vachharajani explores ‘cute aggression’ through a child’s wild imagination in a heartwarming tale of trust, family, and hilarious misunderstandings.
How a little one's illness exposed the battle between superbugs and antibiotics, and what all we can do to win.
Mangroves are nature's superheroes! Found along India’s coastlines, they protect shores from big storms, tsunamis, and erosion with their strong roots. They filter out water impurities and sequester carbon, helping in the fight against climate change. Mangroves are also home to amazing creatures like Bengal tigers, Gangetic dolphins, and various birds! But they’re in danger. Pollution, shrimp farms, and urbanization are destroying these magical forests. We need to act fast to save them from being murdered—by replanting them, protecting their habitats, and raising awareness—because mangroves are more than just trees; they’re lifelines for our coasts!
Birds migrate thousands of kilometres every year. Why do they undertake such perilous journeys?
Stealthy, silent, and deadly as an assassin. Striking at will across the world. Antimicrobial Resistance, or AMR, is stalking humanity, leaving millions dead and dying in its wake. A well-recognised global public health threat today, AMR happens because of misuse and overuse of life-saving antibiotics, which makes disease-causing microbes resistant to existing medicines. In such a scenario, prevention is the only way out.
Lavanya Karthik’s delightfully narrated and illustrated biography of Janaki Ammal, a path-breaking woman scientist in colonial India, inspires young readers.
Edavalath Kakkat Janaki Ammal was one of India’s first female scientists, but before she broke glass ceilings, she was just a little girl in Kerala’s seaside town of Thalassery. The short, illustrated biography by Lavanya Karthik charmingly captures her story, looking for a dream world away from her hometown with rigid rules.
The book is Janaki’s journey from being a seed to a blossoming forest. The storytelling is captivating even though the narrative is short—there are barely a line or two per page. Even then, the biography perfectly encapsulates the dreariness in Janaki’s life and the angst for more.
Thalassery is beautiful but to Janaki, it’s suffocating. The very first depiction of the town in a beautiful green monochromatic colour scheme, shows Janaki
Pythons have pretty poor eyesight. But they have a super power. Heat sensors! These are on their lips. From the heat radiated from their prey, they can find them even in the dark!
Pythons, like most reptiles, are very maternal. Some lay up to a hundred eggs. The mother then coils around to keep them warm until they hatch, which can be up to 90 days! She never leaves them even to feed herself!! Mother's love at its best.
The Mullukurumba tribe lives in the lower forest ranges of Wayanad and Kerala. They were originally hunters, but they never hunted for sport; only for food. Gradually, over the years as hunting came to be banned, the Mullukurumbas shifted to practising agriculture.
Veliyamuthan is the elder or head of Karikunnu village which is nestled in the forest. As a young man, he had led most of the hunts of the Mullukurumbas. He, like many of his tribe, knows everything there is to know about the animals in the surrounding jungle. He no longer hunts, but is a storehouse of knowledge about the forest and the animals that live in them. One day, when he was resting under a jackfruit tree, some children came running excitedly...
A buzzing catalogue of some important bee-types—the rock bee, little bee, Indian hive bee, European bee, and dammer bee.
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So far, we have only touched upon a few of the many things about the life of bees and what an important part they play in saving our planet. Honey is not just something sweet and tasty; but what makes it sweeter is the makers of honey—the bees. There are over 2,000 bee species across the world and not all of them make honey. In India, there are five major bee types that produce honey...
Harvesting wild honey has been the main occupation of the Cholanayakan and Kattunayakan tribes of Wayanad, in Kerala, for centuries. But the recent drought and delayed summer rain have affected the harvesting of wild honey. The number of beehives has come down drastically, by over 50 per cent from 2023. Honeybees make hives every year on the same big trees. The right amount of rain, according to the season, is crucial for honey production. But unseasonal rain is posing a huge threat to it, affecting the tribes that depend on honey collection for their survival...
Check out some amazing honeybee facts about these nature's tiny engineers and their sweet secrets.
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How many eyes do honeybees have? Bees have FIVE EYES and SIX LEGS.
How do honeybees share information with each other? By DANCING. They do a figure of 8 dance called the ‘waggle dance’. Through this dance, they tell the other bees where pollen, water, etc. is available.
How many flowers do honeybees have to visit to get a kilo of honey? About 40 LAKH flowers. But one bee makes only about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime. So, you need thousands of bees to make a kilo of honey...
