Increase in avian diversity recorded in Kovai wetlands
A total of 201 bird species were reported in the surveyed 25 wetlands. The second phase of census for terrestrial birds is scheduled to be held on 1 and 2 March.
Forest department staff along with volunteers involved in synchronised bird census in Coimbatore
COIMBATORE: The avian diversity in major wetlands across Coimbatore has been found to be encouraging with an increase in bird species and as well as their population.
“A synchronised bird census undertaken by the forest department on January 27 and 28 has discovered that bird species increased on an average from 54 to 57 and bird count from 474 to 643 in every wetland as compared to last year in the district.
Also, the overall bird count rose from 9,494 in 2023, when 20 wetlands were studied to 16,069 now in 25 wetlands,” said N Jayaraj, District Forest Officer, Coimbatore Forest Division.
A total of 201 bird species were reported in the surveyed 25 wetlands. The second phase of census for terrestrial birds is scheduled to be held on 1 and 2 March.
Identification of critical bird areas, status of endemic birds and endangered birds will be key outputs of the monitoring program along with studying migratory patterns of birds.
The synchronised bird census aims to institutionalise long term monitoring of birds for better planning and conservation of avian diversity in the State.
A total of 25 teams comprising 140 participants including forest department staff along with volunteers from Nature and Butterfly Society (TNBS) and WWF-India participated in the exercise.
Of the total 201 bird species, 60 were water bird species with a population of 7,234 and an average of 643 bird count per wetland.
Highest bird counts were reported from Ukkulam (2,288) Walayar backwaters (1,797) and Krishnampathi Lake (1,387), while low bird counts were reported in Irugur, Vedapatti and Narasampathi wetlands.
The number of bird species across wetlands varied from 31 to 101 with an average of 57 species per wetland. Highest bird species count of 101 was reported in both Pethikuttai water spread area and Krishnampathi.
Both these wetlands recorded the highest species during last year’s census too. Similarly, low species of birds were recorded from the totally dried out Irugur wetland (31) and Vedapatti (32) wetland.
