In Panjim, listening to bird song and the sound of hope

Birds have been on my brain for some time, for several reasons. Some months ago, my wife Chryselle introduced me to the Merlin Bird app available for free on the phone. It “offers quick identification help for all levels of bird watchers and outdoor enthusiasts to help you learn about the birds in any country in the world.”

Since then, we’ve compiled an impressive list of bird calls heard from various vantage points in our house. They range from the commonplace (house sparrow; common myna; crows for some reason don’t get picked up) to the more exciting, at least to an amateur birder like me: red-whiskered bulbul; red-vented bulbul; jungle myna; Asian koel; purple-rumped sunbird; common tailorbird; pale-billed flowerpecker; fantail flycatcher.

We were surprised to catch bird calls even of Indian peafowl, spotted owlet and Eastern barn owl, all within earshot of our home, in the heart of Panjim in Goa.

Whether it means that bird life is still alive and well in the city, or whether it means they’ve had to adapt to destruction of their former habitat is hard for me to speculate. But it is still comforting to hear our winged friends amid the din and bustle of the Casino Sin City my...

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