Visitors at Koondhankulam
S. THEODORE BASKARAN
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A village in south India where the people protect birds zealously is a role model.
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Photos: S. Theodore Baskaran
Magical landscape: Villagers welcome the birds.
IN quite a few places in India, painted storks nest in villages enjoying the protection of the people. In Gujarat, breeding colonies are found inside towns like Bhavnagar and Baruch.
The village of Koondhankulam, near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, is one such site where painted storks, known to the villagers as sangulavlai narai, raise their young among human habitation.
For many years, this village of 9,000 people, who are mostly agriculturists, has been the breeding centre for these storks. Trustingly, they nest in the trees that dot the village, in the backyards and by the roadside. At times they are even found in the low-slung Prosapis trees.
Zealous guards
The villagers, vegetarians all, have guarded the birds zealously. If anyone was caught killing a bird, the villagers would tie the dead bird round the culprit's neck and parade him through the village. Years ago, painted storks used to nest in the tamarind trees in Moondradaipu village on the main Tirunelveli-Nagercoil highway. With the increase in vehicular traffic and harassment, the birds have abandoned that spot and presumably have moved in here.
The arrival of the storks in large numbers is an indication that the rain has been good and that there would be enough water for two crops. This is why the villagers welcome the birds as a sign of good times to come, unmindful of the stench and cacophony. Then storks come by the end of the monsoon in January and stay on till June.
But what is special about Koondhankulam is that at the edge of the village in the safety of Acacia nilotica trees on a lakeside, hundreds of grey pelicans, spoonbills and darters nest. It is this lake that gives its name to the village. Kulam in Tamil means a lake. All the three species of birds are on the endangered species list and if they breed successfully in a site, they have to be given all possible protection.
The acacia trees were raised under a social forestry scheme and now provide a venue for a breeding colony. In 1993, steps were afoot to auction off these trees as fuel wood. That is when the villagers got together and through their panchayat persuaded the Forest Department to spare the trees. The next year, this place was declared a sanctuary and a village committee formed to look after the birds.
Waterfowl gather in large numbers during breeding season and nest in colonies in secure spots where food is plentiful. These heronries as they are called serve as an indicator of the status of wetlands in the country. Critical to the environment, wetlands maintain subterranean water, sustain food chains, control floods and provide habitat for wildlife.
Feeding ground
The 129-hectare Koondhankulam, which receives water from the Manimuthar canal, lies on the western side of the village. This lake and neighbouring water bodies like Kadankulam, Ilamalkulam, Sungulam and Vijayanarayanam lake are brimming with fish and other small aquatic life after the monsoon and serve as feeding ground for the waterfowl. Pate, a former Collector of Tirunelvel, has recorded in the District Gazeteer in 1914 that pelicans fed regularly in the Vijayanarayanam lake.
In the countryside around Koondhankulam, a large number of other species of birds are also seen. Evidently this area has not been polluted by pesticide. I saw Brahminy kites soaring above the lake and a Montague's harrier flying low examining the edge of water for possible prey. Black ibis and cattle egrets were feeding in a field being ploughed. Rollers were enlivening the countryside with their brilliant colours.
It is crucial that this heronry is left undisturbed. A sanctuary is primarily for the birds and tourism should be only incidental. Buses and vans should not be allowed to come into the village. Now they pass just a few feet from the nests.
When we were at the lake, a van came right up to the bund. If this is not stopped, the situation will be like the one at Vedanthangal where dozens of vehicles are parked by the lake at any given time.
Fascination with birds
The story will be incomplete without a mention of Paul Pandi, part-time forest-watcher. When I trained my binoculars on a dabchick, he whispered that this tiny bird swims with its chick on it back, piggyback style. He pointed to a glossy ibis, a shiny black wader perched on a palmyrah tree as the anril of Tamil classics, a bird that paired off for life. He was right on both counts. His fascination with birds does not stop with mere knowledge. He rescues nestlings that fall from the trees and hand rears them before releasing them. Every season, his orphanage has at least four or five pelicans and an equal number of storks. If these were ringed systematically before release, it would be easier to track them. In the Kokrebelur heronry near Mysore, volunteers who hand rear pelican fledglings that fall from the nest colour band them for easy identification.
Migratory birds
All the birds that nest in Koondhankulam are local ones, not migratory. The latter, such as stilts, sandpipers, godwits, can also be sighted here but they are winter visitors and come to Koondhankulam and other lakes only to feed.
I saw migratory ducks of many varieties in vast numbers — pintails, mallards, blue-winged teals, even comb ducks. Our own resident duck, the spot bill, was also present in large numbers.
The celebrity among the winter visitors is the bar headed goose. These birds breed in Ladakh and come down South in winter. This is the southern most point where they can be seen. There is no record of their sighting in Sri Lanka.
That morning we saw skein after skein of geese arrive at the lake. Their honking call, as they came through the morning mist and dropped wings to land, charged the landscape with a magical quality.
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