Birds
20 species accountsPlumage, calls, seasonality and the BNHS specimen record.
Open the guideKnowledge
Field guides to Indian wildlife
Five field guides to the wildlife of the Indian subcontinent.
Look up a species by name, family or scientific name
Show me somethingWhat the guides cover
The accounts are written by BNHS scientists and drawn from our specimen collections, the Journal, and more than a century of records kept by our members.
- The subcontinent
- India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
- 5 groups
- Birds, butterflies, mammals, trees, and reptiles and amphibians.
- Since 1883
- Grounded in the BNHS collections and the records of our members.
Choose a guide
Every guide covers the subcontinent. Pick the group you are trying to identify.
Butterflies
In preparationWing patterns, host plants and flight seasons across regions.
In preparation
Mammals
In preparationField signs, tracks and range notes, from big cats to shrews.
In preparation
Trees
In preparationLeaves, bark, flowering and fruiting notes for native and naturalised trees.
In preparation
Reptiles & Amphibians
In preparationScalation, habitat and how to observe safely.
In preparationOr start anywhere
You do not need a name to begin. Follow a question, a habitat, or somebody else's find.
A species at randomOne account, picked for you. Keep pressing until something catches.
Walk the taxonomyStart at an order and work down through families and genera.
What lives near meFilter species accounts by the state you are birding in.
Species at riskThe critically endangered and endangered birds of the subcontinent.
From the collectionsAccounts built on skins, eggs and nests held at Hornbill House.Members' latest findsRecent observations added to the accounts by BNHS members.The guides keep growing
Distributions shift, taxonomy is revised, and species turn up where nobody expected them. Each account carries the observations that members send in, reviewed by our scientists before they are added. If you have seen something, it belongs here.
What members contributed this week
- A. Deshpande contributed four photographs of the Indian Skimmer from Prayagraj.2 days ago
- M. Kurian added a dawn song recording of the White-rumped Shama from Thattekad, Kerala.5 days ago
- S. Bhatt corrected the distribution notes for the Yellow-wattled Lapwing in Kutch.Last week