COIMBATORE: A total of 9,033 birds from over 232 species were spotted at the terrestrial survey conducted across 25 locations in the district on March 15 and 16. The survey was conducted by the Coimbatore forest division along with Coimbatore Nature Society (CNS), The Nature and Butterfly Society (TNBS), and WWF- India.
A total of 126 people in 25 teams including bird experts, forest staff, enthusiasts and students from different institutions took part in this exercise. Among the 25 terrestrial spot locations, 17 were selected within 7 ranges of Madukkarai, Boluvampatti, Coimbatore, Periyanaickenpalayam, Karamadai, Mettupalayam and Sirumugai, and there were four urban rural locations additionally chosen for the survey.
A Pavendhan of TNBS said, "The population count was between 167 and 763 across these locations with an average of 361 bird count per place. Highest bird counts were reported from Koothamandi & Gandhavayal (763), Kovai Kutralam (724), followed by Panappalli & Kondanoor (643).
PR Selvaraj of CNS said, "For the first time, night bird watching sessions were held at few locations for recording nocturnal birds. 10 species of nocturnal birds have been recorded. These include 4 species of nightjars, 5 species of owls and Indian thick-knee.”
According to sources, a total of 41 migrant species have been recorded and among them are 3 waterbird species. D Boominathan of WWF India said, "Among 232 bird species, 207 species are landbirds while 25 species are waterbirds. The direct count break-up is 8,478 landbirds and 555 waterbirds.
Birds like yellow-billed Babler, Red-vented Bulbul, Common Myna and House Crow were spotted in high numbers directly. Similarly, important findings include Red Spurfowl, Oriental Turtle-Dove, Asian Emerald Dove, Grey-fronted, Green-Pigeon and Yellow-footed Green-Pigeon, etc.