19 July,2026 08:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Phorum Pandya
Geoffrey Berger has criss-crossed through the country, from the Ellora Caves in Maharashtra to Dehing Patkai National Park in Assam, in search of the birds; (right) A Pied kingfisher chomps on a worm in Amboli, Maharashtra. Pics/Geoffrey Berger
While everyone was stuck at home during Covid pandemic in 2020, not everyone had a forest cover for the backyard like Geoffrey Berger. The Frenchman was surrounded by a tropical forest in Cairns, Australia, where he was working in an open-air banana factory.
It all started with a yellow sunbird that made a nest in his garden hammock. "I was filled with wonder," the 31-year-old tells us. Next, he spotted a laughing kookaburra, the largest kingfisher in the world, who befriended him and dropped by every day. "It would perch on a pole all day, and it would let me feed him the frogs stuck in the banana before processing," says Berger.
Having spent most of his life in the countryside of France - a small village near Burgundy called Venizy - where it was all "grey birds" for him, Berger took to the colourful birds of the region.
Berger was inspired by another YouTuber who made some videos to encourage people to birdwatch in their garden during the lockdown. "I realised I was lucky to be surrounded by some unique birds. I started photographing them. I started to learn more about kingfishers and realised the far north of Queensland where I was living hosted a lot of them. To see as many birding sites, I changed 22 jobs in four years to explore Australia," says Berger.
For the past three years, Berger has travelled across more than 10 countries chasing the kingfishers. He relies on his savings to fund his trips, and hopes to monetise his YouTube content (he goes by @Pretty-will-life on both YouTube and Instagram). When we spoke to Berger on a call last week, he was in Malaku, Indonesia, which has 50 species across 20 islands. Here, he has spotted his 40th kingfisher, the Cinnamon-banded kingfisher.
Berger connects to the kingfisher for their shy character. "They are difficult to photograph and show themself only when you come to the same place a few times. It's like they start to accept you into their world. I think it was also a trait that I shared with them. I'm very selective with people in my close circle. I liked to be this person that everybody perceived but nobody knows," he says.
Berger realised no one will take him seriously as a naturalist because he doesn't have a formal degree or training. The challenge to spot all 118 kingfisher species and be the first one to photograph them all is an attempt to prove his skill and be taken seriously as a kingfisher expert. "This passion for kingfishers is a hands-on way to get a degree, which matters in this field. The only way to earn the legitimacy and the respect of naturalists is to become expert in one domain," he says.
"India," he adds, "has been by far the best for birding. Even through the dense traffic noise, raise your head, and you will see kingfisher and so many other birds on the cable lines. Birds are literally everywhere. It is heartening that the country doesn't hunt birds for food, unlike other tropical countries in south-east Asia."
During his past visits, he has travelled across Ladakh, Goa and Assam. "I tell my friends and family, I am travelling to the United States of India. Each state is a new country, with new faces and cultures. People are so helpful: I have a bullet parked in Assam, at a friend's house I met only a couple of weeks ago," says Berger.
Some of his most arduous sightings have been the Ruddy kingfisher and the Black-backed dwarf kingfisher in Assam. "I had gone to Dehing Patkai National Park in Assam for three days but I overstayed for 12 days. I had to go to the same spot every day and wait for it," says Berger, adding, there is a hurried chase around birding today. "Most of people want to see as many birds as they can without putting in the effort to understand nature, putting quantity over quality. Birding is not about becoming patient but more about being intuitive," he signs off.
