COIMBATORE: Bringing much joy to the birders’ community, two species of terns have been spotted at the Puthalam saltpans in Kanniyakumari. This is said to be the first time these seabirds have been found in Tamil Nadu. The birds — an Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) and a white-cheeked tern (Sterna repressa) — were spotted on September 13 and 14, respectively, and subsequently, the birders listed their discovery on the eBird platform.
Anand Shibu, an independent bird researcher, made the first-ever sighting of the Arctic tern in the state.
This bird is famous for the longest migration in the animal kingdom, nearly 70,000 km annually between the Arctic and the Antarctic.
The very next day, when Anand revisited the site along with fellow birder Bagavathi Balasubramanian, to check the presence of the bird, the duo was in for a surprise and treat. Both found a white-cheeked tern, another first-ever sighting in Tamil Nadu.
“I spotted the Arctic tern for one hour during the evening, and after dark, I left the place. I went to see the bird again the next day. However, we spotted a white-cheeked tern, which was sitting along with hundreds of common terns and crested terns. So far there have only been four sightings of Arctic terns across the country. The first time it was in Ladakh in 1990, and after a 34-year gap, it was spotted in Mumbai and Kerala last year. The sightings in Puthalam is the fifth such instance in the country.
Unlike the Arctic tern, the white-cheeked tern inhabits the tropical and subtropical coasts of the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean.
“We have also recorded two other rare and near-threatened species – the red knot and the red-necked stint – in the same area, marking their first sightings in the Kanniyakumari district in August,” said Anand Shibu who has been monitoring the Puthalam regularly since 2022.
The red knot (Calidris canutus) is a shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic mountains, whereas the red-necked stint is a small migratory wader also of Arctic origins.
“These discoveries highlight the importance of Puthalam and its mudflats as a stopover site, where migratory birds rest and feed during long journeys,” he added. According to them, with 224 bird species recorded so far, Puthalam is not just a stopover site but also an important winter feeding and roosting ground for waders arriving from distant lands.
“There is an urgent need for conservation of this critical site, which is threatened by unchecked garbage disposal by the civic body, as waste gets deposited in the saltpans due to winds and development pressures. Protecting such sites is crucial for the survival of migratory species that connect continents with their incredible journeys,” said Anand.
