The Feather Library is a pioneering initiative, the first of its kind in India and the world, dedicated to documenting, identifying, and studying the flight feathers of Indian birds.

This website has been set up as the database for the documented feathers. It is open to all and has easy access to feather plates, data regarding the species, wingspan, number of feathers, various other measurements and the bird’s location. This wealth of information will prove invaluable to ornithologists, Forest department staff,  researchers, and seasoned bird watchers, and it will even ignite a passion in budding birders. The main aim is to have all of this data under one roof, fostering collaboration and advancing our collective understanding of Indian birds. Our long-term goal is to expand and gradually cover all of India, a vision that holds immense promise for the future of bird study. 

We gather bird specimens from deceased birds at rescue centres to establish a primary database of bird species. All birds are confirmed deceased by veterinarians, after which their feathers are measured and documented.

We aim to create and maintain a database of the various bird species in India. Thus far, we have documented over 135 species from Gujarat and Karnataka, including a few migratory rarities. We make detailed notes on the flight feathers, taking into account the number of Primaries, Secondaries, Tertials (Wing Feathers), and Rectrices (Tail Feathers), along with basic bird details such as overall length, bill length and width, leg lengths up to the digits, etc.

Additionally, we fully stretch out one wing and fan the tail in both dorsal and ventral views. This provides valuable data on the exact number of feathers, any changes in shape, and any unique characteristics, colour, pattern, and size. The collected feathers are sorted by type and arranged on a plate for easy viewing and comparison.

The physical collection is currently housed at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, where it will be used for further research and analysis in the fields of science and nature education.