Koothankulam Bird Sanctuary

I am posting the below story about an extraordinary Bird Sanctuary located near the tiny village Koothankulam in Tamil Nadu, where migratory nesting birds live in ecological harmony with the villagers of the community. This Bird Sanctuary is a great template to us all in how to live symbiotically with the planet and the creatures on it. 

Perhaps we here at Tiruvannamalai, with our large reservoirs which get flooded in the rainy season can learn essential ecological lessons from the simple, earnest village folk of Koothankulam. Every day brings the possibility of a new beginning and what amazing potential exists here at Arunachala for great wonders and great success. 

Bal Pandian with young fledgling

Koothankulam Bird Sanctuary, which adjoins the tiny village of Koothankulam is comprised of a couple of tanks spread over 130 hectares (300 acres). It was declared a Bird Sanctuary in 1994 and is the largest reserve for breeding water birds in South India. Located inside this reserve is a Babul plantation of 30 hectares (70 acres) and it serves as the main breeding ground for visiting birds. 

What makes this sanctuary unique is that it is actively protected and managed by the Koothankulam village community. Local people take a keen interest in protecting the Sanctuary and they live together in total harmony. Birds that live in villagers’ backyards are regarded as harbingers of luck and are protected. Bird excreta and silt from the tanks are collected by villagers in the summer and applied as fertilizer to the fields. The villagers’ interest and concern for the birds is evident from the way they tolerate the nesting of over 5,000 painted storks and other birds in trees scattered through the village (outside the sanctuary area). In peak nesting season, the noise is deafening with the added nuisance of bird droppings everywhere. 

Nesting Migratory Birds at Sanctuary

Year after year the villagers go about their business like any ordinary settlement. Protecting the birds, their nests and fledglings. Fallen chicks are taken care of in a rescue centre till they are able to fly on their own. Anyone disturbing the nests are punished by ignominiously shaving their heads, or making the miscreant ride on a donkey in a public procession. The Indian festival of Lights (Diwali) is not celebrated in this area because the sound of crackers would drive away the winged visitors. 

More than forty-three species of resident and migratory water birds visit Koothankulam Bird Sanctuary here every year. More than 100,000 migratory birds start coming by December and fly away to their northern homes by June or July after they lay and hatch their eggs and the young ones are mature enough to fly with the adults. 

Bal Pandian with one of his patients

An inspiration behind this unique, symbiotic bird sanctuary is that of Bal Pandian (and his wife Vallithai Pandian, until her demise several ago). Bal Pandian has been instrumental in the protection of birds for the last thirty years and has dedicated his life to avian conservation. 

Nesting Birds at Sanctuary

Over the decades, Pandian has studied nesting, feeding, and other behaviour of several species. He maintains a daily diary of species, numbers, nesting, and other key features that he observes. His checklist currently has 203 species. 

Bal Pandian with his Bird records

A very interesting narrative of Koothankulam describe Bal Pandian as follows: 

“He is often hailed as the “bird-man” of Koothankulam by the mainstream media. But he is rather much more than half human and half bird. He is more human than the mainstream philanthropists as he has the greater insight and wisdom that only by conserving the environment and fellow beings like birds and fauna we humans can survive and hope to face the ecological catastrophes in the near future. He is more human than our mainstream humanity in the sense that he has invested his whole life and energy for the preservation of life and its numerous manifestations in his immediate environment. He is not just a bird-man but a greater human being who acts for the whole humanity and the planet, for our greater futures and posterity at large.” 

Indian Robin

The Indian Robin (Tamil = Wannatikuruvi, Washerman bird) is a size of a sparrow. The Male is black with white wing patch and a rusty red under a cocked tail. The hen is ashy brown, with no wing patch. They feed mostly on insects but are known to take frogs and lizards especially when feeding young at the nest. Individuals may forage late in the evening to capture insects attracted to lights.

 

This bird enjoys frequenting arid and stony country, semi-desert with scattered bushes around habitation. Although I may not have noticed it in my own garden, this bird frequents houses around villages, commonly perching on thatched roofs of huts and entering verandahs to pick up insects. This bird is widespread in this area. It is commonly found in open scrub areas and often seen running along the ground or perching on low thorny shrubs. All populations are resident and non-migratory. 

 

 

Male Indian Robin on ground

 

 

I’ve often noticed this Robin in the scrub land of the Samudram Erie, but thus far never noticed one in my own garden, where I often receive visitors from its compatriot, the Oriental Robin Magpie. 

 

 

Male Indian Robin on Perch

 

This bird hops along the ground. The male utters some cheery notes, but has no song as such except in the mating season when the male sings and displays itself by lowering and spreading its tail feathers and strutting around the female, displaying its sides and fluffing its undertail coverts. The songs of males have variants for inviting mates and for deterring other males. Males will drive away other males and patrol their territory by flying with slow wing-beats from perch to perch. They may sometimes peck at their reflections. An aggressive display involves fluffing up the feathers and holding the bill high. 

 

The nesting season for the Indian Robin in the South is from March to June and August to September. Its nest is usually a pad of grass, rootlets and rubbish lined with feathers or hair and sometimes sloughed off snakeskin. 

 

 

Indian Robin Hen

Male Indian Robin on Feeding Duty

This bird has tremendous adaptability and can nest anywhere provided it thinks it is safe. The nest is often placed under stone, in earth holes or tree-stumps or within derelict cans or pots. It usually lays 2-3 creamy white coloured eggs. The female alone incubates with the male sharing other domestic duties. 

Nestlings may feign dead (thanatosis) when handled. Nestlings may be preyed on by the Rufous Treepie. The same nest site may be reused in subsequent years. 

Birds of Tiruvannamalai

The below is a current list of birds found, or have been sighted in the Tiruvannamalai District, particularly in the Arunachala area. If any readers have sighted birds in this area other than those on the list, please get in touch (at the email address at the top left corner of Arunachala Birds) so I can add them onto the list.

B

Babbler, Common

Babber, Large Grey

Babbler, Tawny Bellied

Babbler, Yellow Billed

Babbler, Yellow Eyed

Barbet, Coppersmith

Bee Eater, Blue Tailed

Bee Eater, Chestnut Headed

Bee Eater, Small Green

Bittern, Cinnamon

Bulbul, Red Vented
Bush-Lark, Jerdon

C

Chat, Pied Bush

Coot, Common

Coucal, Creater

Cormorant, Little

Crow, House

Crow, Jungle

Cuckoo, Grey Bellied

Cuckoo, Indian

Cuckoo, Pied Crested

D

Darter

Dove, Laughing (Collared)

Drongo, Ashy

E

Eagle, Black

Eagle, Crested Serpent

Eagle, Short Toed Snake

Eagle, Spotted

Egret, Cattle

Egret, Great

Egret, Little

F

Falcon, Peregrine

Flower-Pecker, Pale Billed

Fly-Catcher, Asian Brown

Fly-catcher, Asian Paradise

Fly-Catcher, Tickell’s Blue

Francolin, Grey

G

Gargeney

H

Harrier, Pied

Heron, Back Crowned Night

Heron, Grey

Heron, Indian Pond

Heron, Purple

Hoopoe, Common

I

Ibis, Black Headed

Ibis, Glossy

K

Kestrel, Common

Kingfisher, Common

Kingfisher, Pied

Kingfisher, White Throated

Kite, Black

Kite, Black Shouldered

Kite, Brahminy

L

Lapwing, Yellow Wattled

Red Wattled, Lapwing

Lark, Rufous Winged Bush

M

Malkoha, Blue Faced

Malkoha, Sirkeer
Minivet, Small

Monarch-Flycatcher, Back-Naped

Moorhen, Common

Munia, Black Headed

Munia, Indian Silver bill

Munia, Scaly Breasted

Munia, White Rumped

Myna, Common

N

Nightjar, Indian

O

Oriole, Eurasian Golden

Owl, Barn

Owl, Eurasian Eagle

Owl, Mottled Wood

Owlet, Spotted

P

Parakeet, Rose Ringed

Peafowl, Indian

Pipit, Paddyfield

Pigeon, Rock

Pintail, Northern

Pitta, Indian

Prinia, Ashy

Prinia, Jungle

Q

Quail, Jungle Bush

R

Roller, Indian

Robin, Indian

Robin, Oriental Magpie

S

Sandpiper, Green

Shag, Indian

Shikra

Shama, White Rumped

Shrike, Bay Backed

Shrike, Black Headed Cuckoo

Shrike, Brown

Shrike, Common Wood

Shrike, Southern Grey

Sparrow, House

Sparrow, Yellow Throated

Spoonbill, Eurasian

Spurfowl, Painted

Starling, Brahminy
Starling, Rosy

Stilt, Black Winged

Stint, Little

Stone Curlew, Eurasian Thick Nee

Stork, Asian Open Bill

Sunbird, Loten’s

Sunbird, Purple

Sunbird, Purple-Rumped

Swallow, Red Rumped

Swamphen, Purple

Swift, Asian Palm

Swift, House

T

Tailor Bird, Common

Thrush, Blue Rock

Thrush, Orange Headed

Treepie, Rufous

W

Wagtail, Forest

Wagtail, White Browed

Warbler, Blyth’s Reed

Water Hen, White Breasted

Weaver, Baya

Woodpecker, Black-Rumped Flameback

Wryneck, Eurasian

Mountain Imperial Pigeon

The Mountain Imperial Pigeon is not found in this area, however I am posting this beautifully written post (author unknown) as the problems described which are facing the Mountain Imperial Pigeon, are also problems facing our own indigenous birds here in Tiruvannamalai District.

"Our countryside, too, is becoming bereft of their green cousins, as grand banyans and other fruit trees vanish along our widening roads, and diverse forests of native trees are replaced by miserable Australian acacias and eucalyptus, if they are replaced at all. As their homes are whittled away, the hornbills, barbets, and other pigeons vanish silently. With them vanish subtle splendours and prospects of regeneration. On the roads, the vehicles speed along on their wheels of progress, carrying passengers of a different kind, barely aware of the majesty and opportunity for renewal left behind."

Mountain Imperial Pigeon Narrative

There is a modesty in their conquest of mountains. From the heights, they commandeer vistas of rugged mountains covered in forest or countryside dotted with great trees. From tall trees on high ridges, they scan the landscape, their heads turning on long and graceful necks. They have scaled peaks, even surpassed them. Yet, they speak only in soft and hushed tones that resonate among stately trees. For, the imperial pigeons are a dignified lot, keeping the company of great trees. 

Down in the valley, the pigeon's voice throbs through dense rainforest: a deep hu, hoo-uk, hoo-uk, repeated after long pauses, like the hoots of an owl. In the dawn chorus of birdsong, it sounds like a sedate basso profundo trying to slow the tempo of barbets and calm the errant flutes and violins of babblers and thrushes. The calling pigeon, in a flock with others, is in a low symplocos tree whose branches shine with dark green leaves and purple-blue fruit. They are busy picking and swallowing the ripe fruits, each with fleshy pulp around a single stony seed. 

These large birds, neatly plumaged in formal greys and pastel browns, are Mountain Imperial Pigeons — a species found in the rainforests of the Western Ghats and the Himalayas in India. In more open forests and on grand banyan and other fig trees along the roads through the countryside, one can see their cousins, the Green Imperial Pigeons shaded in more verdant sheen. As a group, the imperial pigeons have a penchant for fruit that necessitates roaming wide areas in search of food. Weeks may pass in a patch of forest with no sign of pigeons, but when the wild fruits ripen, the nomadic flocks descend from distant sites and the forest resonates with their calls again. 

The Transporter 

Like other birds such as hornbills and barbets in these forests, imperial pigeons eat fruits ranging from small berries to large drupes, including wild nutmegs and laurels and elaeocarps (rudraksh). Yet, the pigeon's bill is small and delicate in comparison with the hornbill's horny casque or the barbet's stout beak, which seem more suited to handling large fruits with big stony seeds. The imperial pigeon's solution to this problem is a cleverly articulated lower beak and extensible gape and gullet that can stretch to swallow the entire fruit and seed. 

Lured by the package of pulpy richness in fruit, the pigeon then becomes a transporter of seed. Many seeds are dropped in the vicinity of the mother tree itself, scattered around with seeds from rotting fruit fallen on the earth below. The concentrated stockpile of seeds below elaeocarp and nutmeg trees is attacked by rodents and beetles, leaving little hope for survival and germination. But when the pigeon takes wing, some seeds go with the pigeon as passengers on a vital journey, travelling metres to miles into the surrounding landscape. Voided eventually by the pigeon, the dispersed seeds have an altogether greater prospect of escape from gnawing rat and boring beetle and — when directly or fortuitously dropped onto a suitable spot — of germination. By carrying and literally dropping off their passengers where some establish as seedlings and grow into trees, the pigeons become both current consumers and future producers of fruit. 

Still, it is the quiet achievement of the trees that seems more impressive. Rooted to a spot, the trees have enticed the pigeons to move their seeds for them. Deep in the forest, one discovers a seedling where no trees of that kind stand nearby, bringing a rare pleasure like an unexpected meeting with an old friend. The pigeons are plied with fruit and played by the trees. The modest conquest of the mountains by the pigeons is trumped by the subtler conquest of the pigeons by the immobile trees. 

Peril of Extinction 

In speaking of the pigeon's passengers, one recalls with misgiving the fate of Passenger Pigeons. The Passenger Pigeon was once found in astounding abundance across North America in flocks numbering tens of millions — flocks so huge that their migratory flights would darken the skies for days on end. Yet, even this species was exterminated by unmitigated slaughter under the guns of hunters and by the collection — during their enormous nesting congregations — of chicks (squabs) by the truck-load. Within a few decades, the great flocks and society of Passenger Pigeons were decimated in vast landscapes transformed by axe and plough, plunder and profiteering. By 1914, the species — at the time perhaps one of the most abundant land bird species in the world — had been reduced to a single captive female. The last known Passenger Pigeon, Martha, died in Cincinnati Zoo in September 1914, closing the page on another wonderful species, in another sorry chapter of human history on Earth. 

Our pigeons are more fortunate, but in many areas they, too, are dying a slow death. Some fall to the bullets of hunters who take strange pride in their dubious sport or skill. Some roam large areas of once-continuous rainforests, which now have only scattered fragments. The mountain imperial pigeons are still seen winging across in powerful flight from one remnant to another, over monoculture plantations and stagnant reservoirs. Their forays are getting longer, and their journeys often end fruitless. Our countryside, too, is becoming bereft of their green cousins, as grand banyans and other fruit trees vanish along our widening roads, and diverse forests of native trees are replaced by miserable Australian acacias and eucalyptus, if they are replaced at all. As their homes are whittled away, the hornbills, barbets, and other pigeons vanish silently. With them vanish subtle splendours and prospects of regeneration. On the roads, the vehicles speed along on their wheels of progress, carrying passengers of a different kind, barely aware of the majesty and opportunity for renewal left behind. 

From the valley, the imperial pigeons take wing and — in a minute — fly high and swift over the mountain to distant rainforests. There, sometime in the future, new seedlings will perhaps still emerge in a silent testimony. A testimony that one can forever fly high and strong if one only consumes what one also regenerates in perpetuity.