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.”