Vannya, a mobile app with information about over 1,000 birds, will be launched here on Sunday (November 12).

The app, developed by Shashank Dalvi an alumni of WCS-NCBS and his team comprising wildlife enthusiasts, biologists and engineers. Talking to Covai Post, Shashank said the app will be dedicated to noted ornithologist Salim Ali on his 121st birth anniversary. “It’s a very user friendly and helpful app for beginners to identify the varieties of birds in India. The first version contains more than 4,000 photographs of various bird species of different plumages clicked by renowned wildlife photographers,” he said.

The app also contains information about birds based on the field observations. “Bird watchers can add their own notes in this app and they can also mark the bird species which they have spotted. Very soon, it will be compiled with multiple pages and songs related to birds will be included for the better identification,” Shashank added.

“It took one year to furnish the data in this application by our team. This application will act as a platform that will educate the society about India’s rich natural heritage, help networking of bird watchers, scientists and conservationists.”

Shashank Dalvi has worked in the North-East, Western Ghats and Andaman and Nicobar islands. He was also part of a team that found a new species of bird called Himalayan Forest Thrush (Zoothera salimalii) in 2016 which has been named after Salim Ali.

The app will be launched by Bittu Sahgal, Founder and Editor of Sanctuary Asia magazine. It will be available in both Google Play Store and Apple i Store for android and iPhones from today after 5 p.m.

The info graphics for this app was designed by Nakshi and logo by Deborshee Gogoi.