Kochi’s bird population has managed to cling to some islands of greenery amid increasing urban activities, say birders, who also pointed to deteriorating quality of what have been traditional bird spots.
Bird watchers and photographers were able to spot 31 species in an hour in the property belonging to the Kochi unit of Hindustan Machine Tools at Kalamassery in January last year, said Vishnupriyan Kartha of Cochin Natural History Society. He said that was quite a good piece of news given that a lot of construction activities were taking place in the vicinity for the Kochi Metro Rail project.
But the vegetation quality of the area has gone down; lot of trees had been cut to facilitate the construction activities, he pointed out. At one time there were about a hundred species of birds in the area.
A large number of wading birds can be spotted at Kadamakkudy and Devaswomppadam, near Varappuzha; Kuthirakkoorkari, Kalathara and Kandakkadavu, near Palluruthy and on the beaches.
Mudkundan Kizhakkemadham, a birder in Edappally, said he had been able to spot 45 species of birds over a period of one year on the short corridor of greenery between Changampuzha Samadhi and the Manimala road. Among the birds he captured on camera were the Indian pitta and shikra ( prappidiyan ).
He said that the 300 metre between the two roads had a lot of greenery to support the birds but the situation was fast deteriorating for the birds.
The number of bird species, especially migratory ones, in Kochi’s green lungs Mangalavanam too has come down.
Reclamation of wetlands and waterbodies is a threat for both migratory and local species, he added. Construction activities and increasing pollution are the other major issues that continue to drive birds away from the city area.
