Synchronized bird survey was conducted all over Tamil nadu on March 4,5 2023. Previously Synchronized bird survey for wetlands was conducted on February. This time it was a terrestrial bird census and in Kanniyakumari this was conducted by the Forest Department , co-ordinated by Kanniyakumari Nature Foundation.
It was decided to conduct the survey in 23 transects of the Kanniyakumari District. Of the 23 transects, 12 transects were inside the Kanniyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary and 11 transects were in rural, urban areas. This time the Forest Department had given the opportunity for Zoology College Students to participate in the survey. So students from American College in Madurai, Bishop Heber College in Tirichirappalli, etc participated in the survey.
Bird watchers from different places were invited to participate in the survey and we had experts from Chennai, Trivandrum, Madurai who made the event successful. A preliminary survey was arranged on March 4th in the rural areas. Udhayagiri Fort, Cape Institute, Konam Engineering College, Asaripallam Medical College, Panagudy scrub land, Maunthu Kottai, Marudhuvaal Malai, Valli Sunai , Marunthu Kottai, Thovalai Channel were the transects for rural/urban areas. Teams arrived at DFO Office, Nagercoil by 5.30 AM and under the guidance of DFO Mr.M.Ilayaraja, all the teams started off to their survey locations.
By 12.00 PM the survey was completed and after receiving the checklists , the teams were sent to the accommodations in Pechiparai and Kalikesam Eco camp in preparation for the next day survey. In the Preliminary survey while there were many good records of raptors, the highlight was spotting the Indian Pitta in the Asaripallam Medical College. This indicates how much dense green patches are needed in the rural, urban areas for migratory birds like the pitta, Indian paradise flycatcher, Asian Brown flycatcher to thrive.
The teams in Kalikesam eco camp went for a short nocturnal survey too and spotted Brown fish owl, Jerdon’s nightjar, Indian Scops owl etc. All the teams were picked up early morning after packing up the breakfast and sent to their respective transect lines. By 6.30 AM all the teams were in the survey locations. The survey locations were Maruthamparai, Pechiparai, Kaliyal, Balamore, Maramalai, Azhagiyapandipuram, Asambu, Surulacode etc. Except for the dry terrain and few forest fires in this month, there were no other troubles during the survey. All the teams had completed the survey by noon and returned to DFO office to submit the checklist.
Few teams had spotted mammals like Indian Gaur, Sambar Deer, Brown civet, Malabar Giant Squirrel during the survey. Even in this dry season, the butterfly movement was good in the forest areas. The notable sightings in the survey were Rufous-bellied eagle, Brown fish owl, Great Indian hornbill, Malabar Trogon.
Overall 173 bird species and 3864 birds were counted in this survey.
DFO M.Ilayaraja mentioned that a detailed bird survey will be conducted in future along with Pelagic bird survey and butterfly survey in the Kanniyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary.
Participation certificates were provided by the Forest Department, signed by DFO for all the participants. Because of the good volunteer participation, the bird species were spotted in good numbers compared to previous year. Kanniyakumari Nature Foundation thanks the Forest Department for this wonderful opportunity.