Martin Woodcock

(January 14, 1935 – February 24, 2019)

- Bikram Grewal

A few days ago, an early morning call from a birding friend informed me that Martin Woodcock, the great bird artist and author had died. Though I never had the privilege of meeting him, he played a significant role in my birding life. When we were younger, the only guides available were those by the great birdman Sálim Ali, whose text was impeccable but the illustrations left much to be desired. So, in 1983, when Collins brought out the Birds of India, we were delighted. Despite covering only 545 birds, its illustrations were superbly painted by Hermann Heinzal and we could distinguish the subtle colour differences of specific birds.

This book set a trend for some excellent guidebooks that followed, notably Richard Grimmet, Tim and Carol Inskipps’s Birds of India, which is now a premier book for Indian birdwatchers. It also spawned several other books including photographic guides culminating in Pam Rasmussen’s iconic two-volume Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide.