COIMBATORE: A total of 369 bird species were sighted during the four-day Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) held across Tamil Nadu from February 1. According to the results, which were released on Monday, 236 species including rare migratory birds were sighted in Coimbatore district, highlighting the rich biodiversity of the region.
In a rare occurrence, Malabar grey hornbill and Indian grey hornbill were spotted at Anaikatti. This is special as Malabar grey hornbill is endemic to the Western Ghats and is found in higher elevations, while Indian grey hornbill prefers lower altitudes.
Also, in a first, a pair of Taiga flycatchers or Red-throated flycatcher (Ficedula albicilla), a migratory bird from Russia, was spotted at Nilgiris Biosphere Nature Park at Anaikatti, along with Blue-throated flycatcher, which is found in the Himalayas.
“The bird from Russia could have found the park, which has 25,000 varieties of native trees and is a suitable spot due to food sources (insects) and water availability, etc. The bird would spend a month here, and fly back to Russia.
We identified the bird using its chirping sound,” I Solomon Raj, park manager, told TNIE. Moreover, school students during their birding trip spotted the rare Ruddy-breasted crake for the first time in Kolarampathi lake in the city. On previous occasions, it was sighted at the nearby Krishnampathi lake.
“Common Flameback, Yellow-crowned woodpecker, and Rusty-tailed flycatcher are the other rare migratory birds that were spotted at Kovai Courtallam,” said a 44-year-old Sathish Ramamurthy, who runs an NGO called ‘TREE’ (Trust for Environment and Ecosystem).
R Nanda Kumar, a second-year PG student at Forest College Research Institute in Mettupalayam, 84 bird species, including the White-naped woodpecker were spotted for the first time in six years on the college premises. “We managed to spot more migratory and resident birds like the Indian grey hornbill, Blue-faced malkoha, and Fantail and uploaded the details in the eBird portal,” he said.
