Tirunelveli tanks home to over 28,000 waterbirds

Thanks to adequate storage due to water released from Manimuthar dam

A synchronised bird census organised by the Department of Forest on February 7 and 8 in a few irrigation tanks in Tirunelveli district has revealed that the waterbodies are home to over 28,000 waterbirds thanks to adequate storage due to water released from Manimuthar dam.

Since the tanks at Koonthankulam, Kaadankulam, Ramakrishnapuram, Keezha Kazhuvoor, Thirumalaapuram, Vijayanarayanam that get water from Manimuthar dam’s third and fourth reach irrigation system are brimming with water, the bird census was conducted in these water bodies and in Thiruppudaimarudhur birds’ sanctuary.

With the participation of 50 volunteers, the Forest Department’s synchronised census was conducted in seven irrigation tanks on February 7. The first day exercise brought to light interesting features such as nesting of painted storks that has just started at Koonthankulam and pelican nesting in an irrigation tank for the first time.

The volunteers were trained in identifying the birds, recording it and other dos and don’ts during the orientation programme organised ahead of the census. The volunteers were taken to the spots in the early hours to start the census. As usual, hundreds of bar-headed goose from Siberia can be seen in the waterbodies and also in the paddy fields en route.

Migratory birds such as Northern Pintail, Garganey, Northern Shovellers, Common Teal, Flamingo, Bar-headed Geese, Pintail Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit, Caspian Tern and Wooly Necked Stork were also spotted during the census.

The ‘twin sisters’ - Koonthankulam and Kaadankulam - irrigation tanks that collectively form the Koonthankulam Bird Sanctuary have over 18,500 birds. Of this, spot-billed pelicans, painted storks, garganey, and glossy ibis were found in large numbers.

“We could see over 3,000 spot-billed pelicans and 2,600 painted storks in Koonthankulam, where over 1,300 glossy ibis, 1,200 garganey were also spotted. Interestingly, no bar-headed goose could be seen at Koonthankulam while Kaadankulam had over 1,100 birds from these species. Similarly, Vijayanarayanam tank also had over 1,800 bar-headed goose,” said R. Kandasamy, biologist, Department of Forest.

Another interesting finding is that greater flamingos could be seen in Kaadankulam (182) and Vijayanarayanam (454) tanks. The near-threatened black tailed godwit could be seen only at Kaadankulam (11) and Vijayanarayanam (6) tanks. “We could see only 17 black- tailed godwit and only 2 black-headed gulls at Kaadankulam during the census that shows the rapidly dwindling population of these birds,” Mr. Kandasamy said.

In the land bird section, the situation is really alarming as only 1,502 land birds, including two greater spotted eagles at Koonthankulam, were spotted in the areas surrounding these water bodies, which underlines the rapidly shrinking forest areas adjacent to villages owing to a range of reasons.