Published: 23rd September 2013 10:30 AM
Last Updated: 23rd September 2013 10:30 AM
The unique vastness of Madayippara had a rare avian guest this
season, a Caspian Plover, a transcontinental migratory bird that
normally breeds in Siberian desert steppes and flies back to African
grasslands seasonally.A team of ornithologists, who had been tracking the seasonal birds at Madayippara, was surprised to spot a Caspian Plover (Charadrius asiaticus) there on September 19.
Though the rare bird had been sighted elsewhere in India, it was never reported in Kerala before, said Dr Khaleel Chovva, who was a member of the team of ornithologists that spotted the bird.
The small beautiful slim bird has a slender black bill, white brows and a chestnut spot on the breast that differentiate it from other plovers. This fully migratory bird lays eggs in small ground nests in Siberian steppes and West Asian plains and flies back to Africa in small groups between August and October.
Dr Khaleel Chovva said that the bird sighted at Madayippara must be a ‘vagrant’ that accidentally parted with friends midway during its long inter-continental journey. “Rain and adverse weather conditions must have forced it to land in Madayippara, a higher plane grassland close to sea,” he told ‘Express’.
“The sighting of the Caspian Plover underscores the need for protection of Madayippara. We have noted the presence of more than a thousand of various birds there in a few days,” Dr Khaleel Chovva added. The research team included P C Rajeevan and Dr Jayan Thomas.
