Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, an abode for migratory birds has recorded the lowest number of birds this season which began in mid-December, due to drought and decline in the water level of the KRS and Kabini reservoirs, after the release of water to Tamil Nadu.
Ranganathittu sanctuary recorded a 50 per cent decline in migratory birds in the early season. The number of pelicans arriving at Kokkare Bellur in Maddur taluk has also declined, worrying environmentalists, ornithologists and forest authorities. Kokkare Bellur usually receives about 600 pelicans this season, but only 250 birds have arrived, sources said.
As the water level in both the reservoirs are decreasing, farmers cannot cultivate a second crop in lakhs of acres in the Cauvery basin. Therefore, the forage area of the birds will dry up. Hence, both insectivorous and omnivorous birds which migrate for nesting are not landing in Ranganathittu and might be looking at Mandagadde, Shimoga and other places.
This apart, the dried tanks in H D Kote, Gundlupet, Nagamangala and other taluks are sending bad signals to the birds who stay here till September for breeding.
In Ranganathittu, painted stork, open bill stork and spoon bill should have come in large numbers by this time but only 50 per cent have arrived. There is even a decline in the arrival of local birds like cormorants and grey heron, sources said.
They might have seen the situation through an aerial survey and shifted base to Mandagadde Bird Sanctuary and Shimoga. If farmers cultivate a second crop, birds will get feed like fish, frogs, pests, insects and weeds.