200 bird species finds in Wayanad part of Western Ghats

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher (male)

KALPETTA: The Malabar Ornithological Survey 2010-11, the first ever comprehensive study on avifauna in north Kerala, has proved that the Wayanad part of the Western Ghats is a critical habitat for endemic as well as endangered birds.

White-bellied Blue Flycatcher (female)

The team sighted 200 species, including 14 of the 16 endemic species and two critically endangered species, during the two-month survey in Wayanad district.

C. Sasikumar, ornithologist and the team's principal investigator, told TheHindu on Tuesday that the Vellarimala-Chembra regions were of high conservation value because of its unique biodiversity.

Nilgiri Flycatcher

“We found an excellent population of black-chinned laughing thrush, an endemic and endangered bird species, whose presence is mostly confined to the Vellarimala and Brahmagiri mountains of Wayanad region,” he said.

The residents

Indian White-backed Vulture

Other endemic birds reported from the region include the Black-and-Orange Flycatcher, Rufous-bellied Shortwing, Nilgiri Flycatcher, Wayanad laughing thrush, Small Sunbird, Malabar Grey Hornbill and White-bellied Blue Flycatcher.

Black-chinned Laughing Thrush

Among them, the Black-and-Orange Flycatcher, the Nilgiri Flycatcher and the Shortwing were strictly confined to the high altitude region, especially the shola forests, according to C.K. Vishnudas, team member. The team sighted some rare species, including the Scaly Thrush, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Black-capped Kingfisher, Olive-backed Tree Pipit, Speckled Piculet, Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Mountain Hawk-Eagle and Jerdon's Baza.

The team also found Brown-rock Pipit on the Chembra mountain, the first record of the species from north of the Palghat Gap, P.A. Vinayan, another team member said. Rufous-bellied Shortwing, a sister species of the White-bellied Shortwing, a species seen south of the Palghat Gap, was a candidate to be labelled new species, based on some recent DNA studies, he said.

Black-and-Orange Flycatcher

The region had become a critical habitat of the highly endemic and threatened bird species of northern Kerala, Mr. Sasikumar said. The team intended to suggest in their report that the government declare the Vellarimala and Chembra regions as a national park to conserve the birds. A few months ago, a team of scientists of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Kalpetta, discovered 14 new species of plants in the region

The mountain ranges, situated 3,000 to 7,000 feet above the sea level and spread over 200 sq. km., were unique and incomparable to any other part of the Western Ghats.