In addition to the bird sanctuaries in Koonthankulam and Thiruppudaimarudhur, one more sanctuary is in the making in Tirunelveli region as Thediyoor, a small hamlet, has started attracting a good number of painted storks and intermediate egrets as the villagers show extreme interest in protecting these birds.
When the painted storks first built their nests in ‘iluppai’ (mahua) trees near Thalavai Madasamy Temple of Thediyoor a decade ago, the villagers accepted the winged visitors as their guests and started protecting them. Encouraged by the reception, a few more painted stork families arrived in the next couple of years to build their nests atop a ‘vilva maram,; the sacred tree of the nearby Siva temple.
Following the painted storks, a few families of intermediate egrets have also built their nests atop two neem trees near the village bus stop. Even though the tea shop at the bus stop attracts customers throughout the day, none of them scare away the birds. A good number of nests can also be seen in the acacia trees in Thediyoor. Most of these nests now have painted stork chicks.
A lone pelican couple have built their nest atop a palmyra tree close to the bus stop. In all, around 200 pairs of painted storks have camped at Thediyoor now.
“Since the birds have sufficient prey base in the nearby Thamizhakurichi tank and the check dam built across the channel that brings water from Manimuthar dam, the number of birds camping at the village increases every year. To take this conservation to the next level, the Department of Forest should create more infrastructure to convert it into a sanctuary,” says Uyikattan of Thediyoor.
When the poachers, all outsiders, tried to catch the birds on a few occasions in the past, they were warned and chased away by the villagers.
When a similar site was identified at Vagaikulam near Kadayam in Tenkasi district a decade ago, the sustained joint efforts by the villagers, environmentalists and the forest department changed the face of the place as it got ‘biodiversity heritage’ tag.
Since the Vagaikulam site has become a protected area and is under the watchful eyes of the forest personnel, poachers stay away from it.
“We expect similar arrangement in Thediyoor also as the birds love this place blessed with sufficient prey and safety and hence have built their nests. This place should be taken to the next level by the forest department,” says M. Mathivanan of ATREE’s Agasthyamalai Community Conservation Centre.
