Migratory birds
The Nature Trust, which monitors birds along with the forest department in Pallikaranai, counted at least 5,568 waders and shorebirds in the estuary as of Sep 30. The sightings included more than 1,000 Little Stints, 430 Greater Flamingos, several species of sandpipers and more than 890 Garganeys, migratory ducks with dark-brown heads. “We have excluded common coots and other native ducks, which would take the numbers to more than 10,000. On Oct 10, a no-moon day, the tidal waves will be high, and it will be conducive for the birds,” said K Saravanan of Coastal Resources Centre.
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“It is from here that they travel to other areas, including the Pallikaranai marsh,” said KVR Thirunaranan, birder and founder of The Nature Trust. Thousands of these birds were spotted in Sep, and the numbers will only increase this month,” he said. Several migratory species repeatedly arrive here during their seasonal movements, demonstrating the area’s importance in the coastal migration network,” Thirunaranan said. Environmentalists said the temporary halt in work on the proposed sixth reservoir at Kovalam may also have contributed to the birds’ arrival.
Chennai: Slender-beaked Marsh sandpipers, green-legged Common greenshanks and short Rudy turnstones are among thousands of waders and shorebirds that have gathered in the Muttukadu-Nemmeli estuarine habitats ahead of the annual migratory bird season. These birds travel thousands of kilometres from northern countries and enter the city through the Kovalam-Kelambakkam backwaters along the estuary. The estuary, surrounded by salt pans, provides habitat for migratory birds. “Seawater enters the Nemmeli area through the Muttukadu estuary, with tides carrying the water south into the salt pans at Nemmeli. Download the TOI App.
“A unique feature of these waders and shorebirds is that several of them tend to arrive in Aug, before the northeast monsoon and migratory bird season start in Oct, and leave very late, after May.