Bird watchers complete 10-year data, document breeding spots of migratory birds at Pallikaranai

Despite biotic pressure and urbanisation, some birds like fulvous whistling duck, bronze winged Jacana and Asian pied starling have managed to find new breeding spots in Pallikaranai marshland. The monitoring of birds started in 2009 and in 2010, we recorded the chicks of whistling duck, said bird watcher KVRK Thirunaranan, who is coordinating with the Tamil Nadu Forest Department on the data compilation.

The Asian pied starling was documented in 2018 and now we are recording their breeding pattern with chicks in 2021. The 10-year baseline compilation has been submitted in parts to the State forest department and this data will help future biologists and ornithologists to take up further research, Thirunaranan said. “For example, by analysing the excreta of these birds, the toxic load in waterbodies located in Velachery, Pallikaranai, Thoraipakkam, Medavakkam and Madipakkam can be ascertained. These migratory birds depend on Pallikaranai and the adjoining areas for feeding the fish found in nearby water bodies. These birds could be visiting the sanctuary for decades, but detailed documentation is done only in the past ten years, Thirunaranan said. As usual the high tide and low tide water level from the sea are helping Pallikarnai.

But though there are no construction activities in the marshland, the nearby areas are witnessing construction activities affecting the movement of migratory birds. For example, there is a 10 to 15 per cent dip in the arrival of grey-headed lapwing due to the construction works inside the nearby corporation dumping ground, Thirunaranan explained. Census was tough during the first wave of corona and our volunteers faced hardship to reach Pallikaranai. Similarly, the second wave of the corona was even tough for the bird watchers, but with the forest department assistance we were able to complete a 10-year-old database, said N Balaji, member, The Nature Trust. bronze-winged jacana, pelican, painted stork are some of the flagship species regularly documented in Pallikaranai. There was a huge difference in the sighting of birds. For example, the birds found in the morning went missing during the evening forcing us to have continuous monitoring of these birds. Open Bill Stork was one such species with irregular attendance missing our sight, Balaji added.