Winged visitors at Kuttanad

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor , Pathanamthitta
The Hindu, January 10, 2019

With winter setting in, the paddy fields of upper Kuttanad have started receiving winged guests from far-off places.
Majestic Greater Flamingos, spotted at Vaniyamkadavu in the Chennithala paddy fields, are among the avian guests this time around. Benny Ajantha, wildlife photographer and birdwatcher, filmed five Greater Flamingos at Vaniyamkadavu on Wednesday.
Hundreds of migratory birds reach the State to escape from the cold in the northern hemisphere.
Mr. Benny said group of Greater Flamingos included a juvenile too.
Hari Mavelikara, birdwatcher and district coordinator of the Bird Atlas project and bird monitoring activities, told The Hindu that the flamingos found in the country during December-January were on their breeding migration and their main concentration was in the Koonthankulam bird sanctuary, near Tirunelveli, in Tamil Nadu.
A large number of Northern Pin-tail, Garganey Ducks, and Little Ringed Plover were among the other migratory birds found at Vaniyamkadavu this year, he said.
Mr. Hari said the Greater Flamingos Phoenicopterus roseus were the most widespread of the six species of the Flamingo family. Their breeding migration extended towards Kazkhstan and Europe too. In India, they bred in the Rann of Kutch and were widespread winter visitors to the plains.

Rare in Kerala

The Greater Flamingos are rare visitors to Kerala. Two of them were spotted last year at Ezhupunna and a few in the Kole fields of Thrissur earlier. Mr. Hari said Black tailed Godwit, Wood Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Little-ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Little Stint, Temmink’s Stint, Western Yellow Wagtail, Barn Swallow, Greater Spotted Eagle, Eurasian Marsh Harrier, Ruff Northern Shoveler, Whiskered Tern, Small Pratincole, and Oriental Pratincole were the other migratory birds that visited upper Kuttanad during December-January to return in February every year.