Till last month, these birds were sighted at Pallika- ranai marshland and its ex- tension, Perumbakkam wet- lands, say city birders. More than 600 pied avocets have be en spotted at the abandoned salt pans of Nemilicherry. Only a couple hundred used to visit every year.
Bird watcher KVRK Thi- runaranan, who is monito ring the birds in these loca- tions, said there are nearly 20,000 birds in Kovalam Cre ek. He has recorded more than 1,500 Eurasian wigeons at Kovalam.
At Odhiyur, there are 25,000 birds, and among them, the migratory duck po- pulation was the highest, at more than 9,000. This inclu- ded five species of migratory ducks: Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Common Teal, Garganey, and Eurasi an Wigeon. These ducks travel seve
ral thousand kilometres from their home range du ring the winter and migrate to India. In the subcontinent, the Northern Pintail prefers reedy jheels, brackish lago ons, and estuaries, says the deputy director of the Bom- bay Natural History Society, S Balachandran. His team is involved in the ringing of migratory birds in Point Ca- limere Birds Sanctuary in Vedharanyam in Nagapatti nam district. Common teals are one of the most common ly sighted birds in abundance in the wetlands. There are re cords of these birds migra ting to the subcontinent as early as August and used to
stay till March and at times even till April, he said.
In the abandoned salt pans in Nemilicherry, Thiru- naranan recorded the pre- sence of 2,000 greater fla- mingos. Apart from that, the- re were waders, such as marsh sandpipers and black- winged stilts, in good num- bers. He has also recorded sightings of more than 200 slender billgulls at Nemili- cherry
Thirunaranan said mig. ratory ducks have moved from Pallikaranai marsh- land, and throughout the sta- te, the number of migratory ducks has decreased compa- red to the last couple of years.
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