The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Winged visitors throng Pulicat, Nelapattu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 29, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Winged visitors throng Pulicat, Nelapattu

K. Mrityunjaya Ram

Around 6,000 winter itinerant birds roll up this time from far away places

Southern sojourn: Migratory birds landing at the Pulicat Lake

SULLURPET: It’s a feast to the eyes and ears not only for wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers but also for passers-by.

Thousands of migratory birds, including flamingos, have started flocking to their destination - Pulicat Lake and Nelapattu bird sanctuary- to breed, roost and nest with the onset of winter.

With the ambience offering serene wilderness to explore its rich heritage of avian fauna for feathered denizens, particularly this time due to availability of adequate water in the Pulicat, both the lake and the bird sanctuary are now filled with the sight and sound of the flapping wings considered the harbinger of luck.

Both the lake and sanctuary have been winter homes for around 163 bird species better known as “celestial visitors” in which the principal one is flamingo that is locally known as “parrot of the sea”.

And the other feeding migrants are pelicans, painted stork, open billed stork, grey herons, cormorants, white ibises, spoon bills, egrets, reef herons, spot billed ducks, shovellers, pintails, sand pipers, gulls, river terns and others. Around 6,000 winter itinerant birds have rolled up this time from far away places like Siberia, Indonesia, Cambodia, South Africa, the US, Russia, Australia and Egypt.

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