Greater Flamingos, numbering to several thousands, and other water birds have been spotted in Tamil Nadu. This shows the coastal wetlands of the State attract migratory birds, said the Forest Department on Saturday.
Today, the sighting of about a million birds of different species coincided with the beginning of the phase-I of the Tamil Nadu Birds Census 2022. The trial run of the census began on Friday and the final count was held today,” said the department said.
Nearly 40,000 flamingos were seen in Point Calimere, Valinokkam, Dhanushkodi, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari, it said.
Also sighted were Little Stints, Marsh Sandpipers, Lesser Sand Plover. Redshanks, Ruffs, Great Knots, Spotted Redshanks, and even Eurasian Curlew, Whimbrel, and Ruddy Turnstone.
Ducks such as Northern Pintails, Northern Shovellers, Eurasian Wigeon, and Gargeney were sighted at Point Calimere, Kanyakumari, Muthupet, Adyar creek, Pulicat lagoon, and Elcot. A good number of terns – Caspian, Whiskered, Greater Crested, Lesser Crested were spotted in Tuticorin, Rameswaran and Kanyakumari.
There were also Brown-beaded Gull, Heuglin’s Gull, Slender-billed Gull and Pallas Gull. Arctic breeding waders – Little Stints – constituted the most in numbers. Then came Curlew Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstone, Grey-headed Lapwing at Pallikaranai and Kalliveli. Interestingly, the longest non-stop flying species – The Bar-tailed Godwit and Ruddy Turnstone and the highest flying bird – the Bar-headed Geese – were also spotted.