Kerala birds to nest with Malayalam names

K.S. Sudhi, Kochi
The Hindu, August 6, 2015

All bird species of Kerala can now proudly sport Malayalam names, thanks to a group of avid, tech-savvy birders who had sparked off discussions and invited suggestions through the social media and the online discussion group, Kerala Birdie.

They recently completed the process, ensuring that all the 499 species in Kerala could now be identified in Malayalam too.

For instance, the Streaked Shearwater will be called Thiravetti, and the Red-neck Phalarope will strut around with the name Pampara Kaada.

All the names have logical, cultural premises beneath. Pampara Kaada got its name from its behaviour of forming a small whirlpools in the water by swimming in small, rapid circles. This is believed to aid it in raising food from the bottom of shallow water to feed on.

The Great Frigatebird would be known as Chinna Kadal Kallan (sea pirate) indicating its habit of stealing food collected by other birds, while the Masked Booby would be called Neelamukhi Kadal Vaathu , which has reference to the blue patch around its face.

Earlier efforts

The process of locally naming the birds was popularised by Induchoodan (K.K. Neelakantan), the legendary birder from the State. However, the earlier attempts were traced back to the efforts of N.G. Pillai, a curator of the Thiruvananthapuram museum, who accompanied Salim Ali during his Travancore Bird Survey during 1934-35. The names suggested by Pillai had appeared in the book Birds of Travancore and Cochin, authored by Salim Ali and published in 1953.

It was the book, Keralathile Pakshikal , authored by Induchoodan and originally published in 1958 that gave the process a thrust as it carried the local names of 150 birds, said P.O. Nameer, the Kerala State Coordinator of the Asian Water Bird Census.

Later in 2007, when Richard Grimmett's Birds of South India was translated into Malayalam, more than 200 birds didn’t have Malayalam names. While translating the book, some tentative names were coined with the help of several bird enthusiasts.

While naming the birds, Praveen and fellow birders largely followed the methodology of Neelakantan, to blend the local folklore and culture into the names.

The names should relate to its homeland, the culture and the life there and reflect the specialty of the species. It should also be easily comprehensible.

Thus, the Streaked Shearwater which cuts through the waves for feeding was named Thiravetti, White-tailed lapwing Vellavalan Thithiri and Roseate Tern, Vellavaalan Aala, with a distinguishable white tail.