The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Documenting the feathered friends

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 26, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Documenting the feathered friends

CONCERTED EFFORT: A book brought out by the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram.

As part of their efforts to document the biodiversity of the 45-hectare campus of the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, the students of the Environmental Club of the college had carried out a survey of the resident and migratory birds on the campus in March last.

Survey

The findings of the survey have now been brought out in book form by the Club.

The book titled `Feathered Friends of Our Campus' details how the survey was done, the species of birds and butterflies sighted during and outside the survey and detailed notes on each of the bird species spotted inside the flora-rich CET campus.

For three consecutive Sundays, 16 members of the Environmental Club - divided into three groups - carried out the survey from 7.30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

The sprawling campus was divided into three sections and each group was assigned one section a day.

By the end of the final day of the survey, all three groups had covered all parts of the college campus. The data recorded was based on direct sightings of the birds.

In all, 47 species of birds were sighted during the survey and another nine species were spotted by students during their daily bird-watching sessions held throughout the month.

The book notes that in one section of the campus where there is a pond and a number of flowering trees, a good number of sunbirds, woodpeckers and barbets were seen during the survey. In the immediate neighbourhood of the pond, the Little Cormorant and the White-browed Wagtail were sighted.

The area designated section two for the survey has a lot of wild trees and shrubs. The plant nursery is also located here.

A robust presence of birds such as the Common Hawk Cuckoo, the Shikra and the Rufous Tree Pie were spotted in the area immediately behind the building housing the Department of Architecture.

In section three of the campus, the birds sighted included the White-breasted Waterhen, the Pond Heron and the Cattle Egret.

These birds were seen in the damp grassland south of the men's hostel.

In an open area near the hostel, the Blue-tailed Bee Eater, the Indian Roller and the Yellow-Wattled Lapwings were spotted.

Butterflies

In addition to the birds, the survey teams were also able to spot 51 varieties of butterflies. These included the Giant Redeye, the Indian Palm Bob, the Indian Skipper, the Plains Cupid, the Peacock Pansy, the Great Eggfly, the Crimson Rose, the Common Lascar and the Common Sailor.

The book also features the pictures of some of the birds spotted during the survey.

G. Mahadevan

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