The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, covering an area of barely 25 km², and located about 12 km from

Kothamangalam Kothamangalam, , is a municipality in Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. The town is in the foothills of the Western Ghats, and is a part of the Idukki Lok Sabha constituency. The town serves as the headquarters of a taluk and a municipality ...

(

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

), was the first bird sanctuary in Kerala.

Salim Ali Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "''Birdman of India''", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across Indi ...

, one of the best known

ornithologists __NOTOC__ This is a list of ornithologists who have articles, in alphabetical order by surname. See also :Ornithologists. A * John Abbot – US * Clinton Gilbert Abbott – US * William Louis Abbott – US * Joseph H. Acklen – US *Humayun Ab ...

, described this sanctuary as ''the richest bird habitat on peninsular India.'' Thattekkad literally means flat forest, and the region is a deciduous but generally moist low-land forest surrounding the

Periyar River Periyar, , (meaning: ''big river'') is the longest river and the river with the largest discharge potential in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns ...

, the longest river in

Species

The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary has a rich and varied birdlife. Several species of birds, both forest birds as well as water birds, visit the sanctuaries; notable ones include the following: The

Indian pitta The Indian pitta (''Pitta brachyura'') is a passerine bird native to the Indian subcontinent. It inhabits scrub jungle, deciduous and dense evergreen forest. It breeds in the forests of the Himalayas, hills of central and western India, and migrat ...

, which visits the sanctuary during winter and spends almost six months here. *

Orange-headed thrush The orange-headed thrush (''Geokichla citrina'') is a bird in the thrush family. It is common in well-wooded areas of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Most populations are resident. The species shows a preference for shady damp are ...

* Large-billed leaf-warbler *

Jerdon's nightjar Jerdon's nightjar (''Caprimulgus atripennis'') is a medium-sized nightjar species native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Formerly considered as a subspecies of the long-tailed nightjar, it is best recognized by its distinctive call which sounds ...

Indian cuckoo The Indian cuckoo (''Cuculus micropterus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, that is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It ranges from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia ...

Oriental darter The Oriental darter (''Anhinga melanogaster'') is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and, like the cormorant, it hunts for fish while its body is submerged in water ...

Cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...

Whiskered tern The whiskered tern (''Chlidonias hybrida'') is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khelidonios'', "swallow-like", from ''khelidon'', "swallow". The specific ''hybridus'' is Latin for ''hybrid''; Peter Simon Pall ...

s *

Collared scops owl The collared scops owl (''Otus lettia'') is an owl which is a resident breeder in south Asia from northern Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, Bangladesh ,the Himalayas east to south China, and Taiwan. It is partially migratory, with some birds wi ...

Ceylon frogmouth The Sri Lanka frogmouth, Sri Lankan frogmouth or Ceylon frogmouth (''Batrachostomus moniliger'') is a small frogmouth found in the Western Ghats of south India and Sri Lanka. Related to the nightjars, it is nocturnal and is found in forest ha ...

* Grey-fronted green pigeon * Yellow-browed bulbuls The sanctuary is a habitat for different varieties of cuckoos and a region of the sanctuary popularly called "Cuckoo Paradise" is home to them, among which are the: *

Drongo cuckoo '' Surniculus '' is a small genus of birds in the cuckoo family. Its four members are found in tropical Asia and the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika n ...

, which may be easily mistaken for drongo, * Indian hawk cuckoo, which is highly vocal, and the *

Large hawk cuckoo The large hawk-cuckoo (''Hierococcyx sparverioides'') is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It has a wide breeding distribution from temperate Asia along the Himalayas extending to East Asia. Many populations winter further south. They ...

, which looks relatively massive compared to other types of cuckoos, and is characterized by a dark grey and heavily streaked throat. The Idamalayar forest is located about 15 km from Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary. There is a large evergreen forest to the east and south-east of the

Idamalayar Dam Idamalayar Dam is a multipurpose concrete gravity dam located at Ennakkal between Ayyampuzha and Bhoothathankettu in Ernakulam district of Kerala on the Idamalayar, a tributary of the Periyar River in Kerala, South India. The dam however ...

, extending from

Malakkappara Malakkappara or Malakhappara is a small hill station in in Thrissur district of the state of Kerala, India. This place is situated on the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Etymology The place gets its name from the Malayalam word ''Malak ...

to as far as Rajamala. The mountain hawk eagles are found in this forest. Other birds in this forest include

dark-fronted babbler The dark-fronted babbler (''Dumetia atriceps'') is an Old World babbler found in the Western Ghats of India and the forests of Sri Lanka. They are small chestnut brown birds with a dark black cap, a whitish underside and pale yellow iris. They ...

brown-cheeked fulvetta The brown-cheeked fulvetta (''Alcippe poioicephala'') or brown-cheeked alcippe as the fulvettas proper are not closely related to this species,) is included in the family Alcippeidae. It was earlier also known as the quaker babbler. This specie ...

, brown-backed and white-rumped needletails, and emerald green pigeons.

Gallery

File:Ceylon Frogmouth Thattekad.jpg, Ceylon Frogmouth (Sri Lankan Frogmouth), surroundings of Thattekad Bird Sanctuary File:View of Periyar from Pappitta Bird Trial.jpg, View of Periyar from Pappitta Bird Trail File:A landscape at Thattekkad Bird Sanctury.jpg, A landscape at Thattekad Bird Sanctuary File:A landscape at Thattekkadu Bird Sanctury.jpg, A landscape at Thattekad Bird Sanctuary File:Thattekkad Reservoir.jpg, Thattekad Reservoir File:Thattekkad Bird Trial.jpg, Thattekad Bird Sanctuary Trail

Notes

References

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External links

Things to Know before Travelling Thattekad

Thattekad Sanctuary Entry fees and Timings

Thattekad Butterfly park

Thattekad Bird List
{{Tourism in Kerala, state=collapsed Bird sanctuaries of Kerala Tourist attractions in Ernakulam district Protected areas established in 1983 1983 establishments in Kerala Geography of Ernakulam district