Kochi’s bird population has managed to cling to some
islands of greenery amid increasing urban activities, say birders, who
also pointed to deteriorating quality of what have been traditional bird
spots.
Bird watchers and photographers were able to
spot 31 species in an hour in the property belonging to the Kochi unit
of Hindustan Machine Tools at Kalamassery in January last year, said
Vishnupriyan Kartha of Cochin Natural History Society. He said that was
quite a good piece of news given that a lot of construction activities
were taking place in the vicinity for the Kochi Metro Rail project.
But
the vegetation quality of the area has gone down; lot of trees had been
cut to facilitate the construction activities, he pointed out. At one
time there were about a hundred species of birds in the area.
A
large number of wading birds can be spotted at Kadamakkudy and
Devaswomppadam, near Varappuzha; Kuthirakkoorkari, Kalathara and
Kandakkadavu, near Palluruthy and on the beaches.
Mudkundan
Kizhakkemadham, a birder in Edappally, said he had been able to spot 45
species of birds over a period of one year on the short corridor of
greenery between Changampuzha Samadhi and the Manimala road. Among the
birds he captured on camera were the Indian pitta and shikra (
prappidiyan
).
He said that the 300 metre between the two roads
had a lot of greenery to support the birds but the situation was fast
deteriorating for the birds.
The number of bird species, especially migratory ones, in Kochi’s green lungs Mangalavanam too has come down.
Reclamation
of wetlands and waterbodies is a threat for both migratory and local
species, he added. Construction activities and increasing pollution are
the other major issues that continue to drive birds away from the city
area.
