COIMBATORE : Koodapatti, near Anaikatti, remains a hotspot for birding as the highest number of bird species were recorded by the volunteers and the staff of the Coimbatore forest division during the two-day synchronised bird estimate conducted at 25 different terrestrial areas across the district on March 3 and 4.
Out of a total 225 bird species found in the two-day census, 105 bird species were recorded only in Koodapatti.
According to Divisional Forest Officer N Jayaraj “Birds like the Red Spurfowl, Asian Emerald Dove, Grey-fronted Green-Pigeon,Yellow-footed Green-Pigeon and Green Imperial-Pigeon are the important findings.”
While 95 bird species were recorded in Perumalkovilpathi, 87 were spotted in Koothamandi and Gandavayal, 84 in Chinnampathi and Puthupathi and 81 in Mulli-Baralikkadu.
A total of 25 teams participated in this assessment jointly. They copmprised 127 participants of Coimbatore forest division, Coimbatore Nature Society (CNS) The Nature and Butterfly Society (TNBS), and WWF-India. P R Selvaraj (CNS), A Pavendhan (TNBS) and D Boominathan (WWF India) coordinated on behalf of the NGOs.
“Among the rural spots surveyed, Pachapalayam grasslands topped with 70 species and among urban spots surveyed, Pillayarpuram topped with 59 species. During the current year, estimates were done in the morning and evening on March 4 and March 3 and teams were informed of the estimate procedures,” said Pavendhan.
Tamil Nadu Forest Department is conducting synchronised bird estimates across the state every year with an aim to institutionalise long-term monitoring of birds in the state.
“In all locations, evening species count and the direct estimate was less than the morning figures. In the evening session, 166 species were recorded with a total direct count of 4,107 birds,” said Selvaraj.
