Rare birds sighted in Polachira wetlands

The Hindu,January 24, 2017 
KOLLAM:  
The 27th annual waterfowl census in the Polachira wetlands in Kollam district carried out by Warblers and Waders (WW) counted 3,117 water birds of 43 species. The census, which concluded on Sunday, was led by founder-member of WW C. Susanth.
The highlight of the census was the sighting of Comb ducks, a rare winter visitor to Kerala. The previous few sightings in Kerala were recorded only from the Kole wetlands in Thrissur. This is the first time that Comb ducks have been sighted in South Kerala. Eurasian wigeon, another migratory wild duck, was also sighted.

This year, 15 Eurasian spoonbills were sighted at Polachira. This bird is a new winter visitor to the Polachira wetlands, Mr. Susanth said. Lesser whistling ducks were seen more this year, from 420 sightings last year to 1,358 this time. The presence of wader species like Marsh sandpiper, Wood sandpiper, Little ringed plover, Black winged stilt, and Little stint had also increased. The WW team that comprised bird experts K.A. Kishore and Abhiram Chandran observed that the Polachira wetland was shrinking due to unauthorised pumping of water. This could be the reason for the slight increase in the presence of waders in the wetland, they said. At the same time, the shrinking effect had affected the presence of Purple swamphens, Cotton teals, Garganey teals and Oriental darters.

Mr. Susanth said the birds that were not sighted this year are Northern pintail ducks, Asian openbills, Red shanks, Pacific golden plover and the Indian Cormorant. Other significant sightings were Black headed ibis, Painted storks, Glossy Ibis, Indian moorhen, Eurasian coot, Pheasant-tailed jacana, Grey heron, Green shank, Large cormorant and Large egret. During the census by WW last year, 1,069 water birds belonging to 25 species were recorded from the Polachira wetlands..