Forest guide at Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, Sudha Chandran, speaks of a lifetime in bird watching

Sudha Chandran
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The racket-tailed drongo is one of the first birds to wake everyone up. The whistling jingle of the drongo’s call is almost always the sound Sudha Chandran starts her day with. “By 5.30am, there is a veritable symphony playing in the forest, if you care to listen,” she says. Sudha is a forest guide at Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary and an authority on the birds in the region. 

Having been in the sanctuary for over 24 years, Sudhamma, as is fondly known, can identify over 300 bird species – their calls, breeding season, feeding season, habits and habitats and migration patterns. The Thattekkad bird sanctuary, which sprawls across 25 square kilometres, is home to about 330 bird species. “I love the forest and nature and all the creatures in it; I sometimes feel I know them all,” she says.  

Sudha has been chosen for this year’s PV Thampy Memorial Endowment Award for Environment Protection, given to ordinary people for their extraordinary contribution to environmental protection. 

Sudha first came to Thattekkad in 1971 as a young bride. “It was a thick forest at the time and I was extremely scared to venture out. The sounds from the forest used to unnerve me,” she says. Her husband owned a tea shop at Thattekkad. But after his untimely death 35 years ago, Sudha had to rise up to a volley of challenges. She had to raise two children and make enough for the family to survive. With only a Class X education, Sudha took to doing odd jobs, while managing the tea shop. “I taught myself how to drive, I can row the boat; I can take photographs. I also got a job as a part time sweeper in the Government UP School, Thattekkad.” 

Sudha Chandran with a team of bird watchers
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

When the sanctuary was inaugurated in 1983, the tea shop began to get scientists, bird watchers and naturalists as its visitors. Sudha would often visit the sanctuary on errands and gradually got acquainted with bird watching. She would listen in on sessions handled by renowned ornithologist R Sugathan, a protege of pioneer Salim Ali. “I would hang around outside the class to listen and Sugathan sir would ask me to get inside and attend the class,” Sudha says.

Sudha Chandran
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Sudha gradually learnt about birds and has been accompanying visitors, ornithologists, naturalists and scientists on their bird watching trails into the forest. “I have learned so much from the scholars and experts and I am still learning. I pass on whatever I know to people who want to learn.” Sudha can handle English and can understand most Indian languages, she says. 

One of the first licensed women forest guides, Sudha has won awards including the Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award 2023.

Malabar trogon
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

She believes luck has played a significant role in her bird watching life. “Once, a naturalist who came to visit the sanctuary wanted to see the Malabar Trogon. He could not spot the bird and was about to return disappointed. I said I would show him the bird and as luck would have it, the bird presented itself to us. It was a moment of true joy for me and for the naturalist,” she says. The Malabar Trogon, though a resident bird, is elusive. It is also one of Sudha’s favourite birds. 

Thattekad bird sanctuary
| Photo Credit:
Sandeep Das

She has had close encounters with animals and reptiles and can identify many of them. Thattekkad is home to several species of butterflies, mammals, and snakes as well. 

Sudha’s children are now settled — her son is a lawyer and daughter is a nurse. She has built a homestay Junglebird next to her house, which has visitors through the year. “We have frequent visitors from the animal world too. At least six Malabar squirrels come here often, they are as good as my pets,” laughs Sudha.

The 70-year-old cancer survivor says she has always taken life head on and the natural world around her is her constant inspiration. “I respect the forest and I enjoy my time in it. It is a sort of a meditation for me,” she says.