Everyone thought they only came for the sun and sand. Earlier Souza, Pereira and Madkaikar all worked in adventure tourism activities. They learnt the various birdcalls, and the scientific names of various winged species, which are said to be about 240 in Goa and nestle along sandy beaches, mangrove-lined estuaries and the forested slopes of the Western Ghats a mountainous chain that runs along the west coast. It can be an expensive hobby. You need telescopes and binoculars.
Tourists coming in for birding are, naturally, high-spenders.
He or she is often ready to fly anywhere, sometimes even in a few hours time, if there are reports of the sighting of a rare bird somewhere. For instance, they are willing to hop onto a plane to Spain, if they hear of rare sightings there, says Souza. After promoting Goa as a birding destination, 'Backwoods' believes it can try the same in other parts of South India. Goa is the only place where direct charter flights come. In the last season, their firm claims to have got some 400 clients.