Esha Munshi
Founder

Esha Munshi, originally trained as an architect, devoted 15 years to the profession before shifting her focus to the Feather Library, an initiative she founded. A passionate birdwatcher and citizen scientist for over a decade, Esha has observed 1,086 bird species in the Indian Subcontinent and more than 1,500 species worldwide.

Her work places a strong emphasis on recording bird vocalisations—she has documented the sounds of over 700 species, including the Marsh Babbler, whose recording was ranked among the top 30 out of one million sounds on eBird. Forty-two of her recordings feature on the Merlin App, where she also contributed as a sound annotator for the Sound ID feature.

In the summer of 2021, she completed the Ornithology: Comprehensive Bird Biology course, laying the groundwork for the launch of Feather Library on November 15, 2021, a milestone for avian research in India. In March 2022, she further deepened her expertise by earning certification in taxidermy and the preparation of round-skin museum specimens of birds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

In January 2025, Esha trained in feather microstructure at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., under Carla Dove, where she also shadowed the work of the Feather Identification Lab for a month.

Now based in Bangalore, Esha serves a Honarary Curator of Birds at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR),Bangalore while continuing to nurture and expand the Feather Library—pioneering accessible, non-invasive avian specimen collections for research, education, and conservation across India.

Sherwin Everett
Co-founder

Our co-founding member, Sherwin Everett, works at an avian hospital in Ahmedabad. The hospital receives around 1500-2000 birds per month, mostly pigeons, kites and crows, but also several other common and rare species. A number of the birds succumb to their injuries and stress, after which their bodies are discarded to the local corporation for disposal. He felt that this was a colossal pool of data just going to waste, literally. We decided to use this opportunity and began documenting feathers from birds that were declared dead by vets.

Vishal Mistry
Team Member

Vishal is from Vaso village of Kheda District, Gujarat, India. He is a naturalist, birder and wildlife researcher. Previously he has worked on different projects on Sarus Cranes, Vultures, Wild Ass, Forest Owlet, Indian Wolf, Flamingos, Odonates, Arachnids, Mugger Crocodiles, Dugong etc. with different organisations like SACON, Anand Agriculture University, Wildlife Institute Of India, BNHS, Nature Club Surat, Jivdaya Charitable Trust, WWF-India and Voluntary Nature Conservancy.

Pradyuman Sindha
Volunteer

Pradyuman is from Bharuch District, Gujarat, India. He is a wildlife researcher and Drone pilot. Previously he has worked on Sarus cranes, Mugger Crocodile, Dugong, Great Indian bustard etc. With organisations like the Wildlife Institute of India, Wildlife conservation society and voluntary nature conservancy.

Vyom Vyas
Volunteer

Vyom is in the final phase of his schooling years and since he has developed a keen interest in Ornithology and wishes to pursue a career in the same field in the future. He has developed an interest in bird watching since the age of 13 years.

He is a student studying in 11th Standard. For many years he has served at Jivdaya Charitable Trust as a volunteer. He wishes to pursue his career in Avian Biology.

Aryah is a Natural history photographer specailizing in photomicrography and an Adobe certified editor. She collaborates with scientists to image unknown stories about the natural world. She used to document bird species and migration for krishnagiri district before deciding to pursue her career as a photographer and scientific communicator. She is currently studying filmmaking and also doing her Ornithology: Comprehensive bird biology course.