Rare migrant birds flock to Tiruppur’s Nanjarayan Tank bird sanctuary

Rare water birds, including European Wigeon and Ruddy Shelduck, flock to Najarayan Tank Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu.

Birders in the western Tamil Nadu are thrilled as some of the water birds that rarely visit the region have flocked at the Nanjarayan Tank bird sanctuary on the outskirts of Tiruppur.

Latest in the list of visitors are European Wigeon (Mareca Penelope) and Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) that were spotted by members of the Nature Society of Tiruppur. They sighted a solitary European Wigeon and five Ruddy Shelducks.

According to them, Eurasian Wigeon was sighted at the tank after a long gap. Ruddy Shelduck, a rare visitor to Tamil Nadu, was earlier sighted at the tank when a flock of 14 arrived in November 2020.

“Ruddy Shelducks were recorded a few times in other parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, in the past. But such large flocks have not been recorded anywhere in the State. We are glad that five birds arrived this year,” said K. Ravindran, president of Nature Society of Tiruppur.

Recently, a Forest Department watcher spotted a Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta), a shore bird, at the sanctuary. It is a vagrant that is rarely spotted in inland water bodies.

Mr. Ravindran said that commercial fishing was banned in the tank after it was declared as the 17th bird sanctuary in Tamil Nadu in September 2022. The Forest Department is taking various measures to prevent people from engaging in hunting, anti-social activities, dumping waste and causing disturbances to birds in the sanctuary.

The total checklist of bird species at the sanctuary stands at 187, sightings of which have been recorded in the past 15 years, he added.