COIMBATORE: For the first time in Tamil Nadu, a red-throated pipit (Anthus cervinus) was sighted by two bird watchers near Upparu reservoir at Dharapuram in Tirupur district on Sunday. Speaking to TNIE, the bird watchers -- Mahesh Ramasamy and Sathasivam Damotharan -- said that they sighted the bird during a regular bird watching trip near Upparu reservoir on Sunday morning. "This is the first time that the bird has been sighted in Tamil Nadu. We confirmed this with experts from Madurai and Chennai and checked the same on eBird platform. The online site has records of the bird being sighted in Karnataka and Kerala," they said.
Mahesh, who is attached to the Dharapuram Nature Society for the past four years, told TNIE that red-throated pipit has been rated as being of "least concern" by International Union For Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as its population is believed to be stable. "The bird is passerine and breeds in the north of Europe. It lays four to six eggs, which are incubated by the female for nearly two weeks. The young ones are fledged and ready to leave the nest in twelve days. Though insectivorous, the bird also consumes seeds. This bird's global population is estimated to be about two million," he added.