Is Tamil Nadu a hearth or just a winter resort to Greater flamingos?

Mounds have been reported from Point Calimere and Pulicat, but conclusive proof of breeding is yet to be presented

Certain questions refuse to be put away. They can be muted but not dispensed with. After every lull, they return with a vengeance. Usually of a metaphysical timbre, these questions are open-ended. One instinctively knows they militate against a conclusive answer. And the questions are therefore asked over and over again — as much in a spirit of levity as serious inquiry. It is when answers to questions at a temporal level — where evidence can be placed on the table — prove elusive that the quest becomes frustrating. Here is one such exasperating but oft-asked question: are the Greater flamingos breeding in certain parts of Tamil Nadu, specifically in Point Calimere and Pulicat?

This question gets triggered by one image every winter: a flock of greater flamingos dominated by juveniles at wetlands in Tamil Nadu. Right now, at the Perumbakkam wetland, Greater flamingos are holding court and the gathering is dominated by juveniles. That begs the trite old question: are they wintering in a patch not too far from another where they were conceived and nurtured?

Ornithologist V. Santharam weighs in with his observations: “In Tamil Nadu, there are no areas confirmed as breeding sites of Greater flamingos. People have been reporting mounds being constructed at Point Calimere and Pulicat. These birds nest in large colonies: one is not sure if these mounds are attempts at nesting or have been constructed for resting. The actual evidence of sighting of eggs and chicks has not been presented. If there is any evidence at all, it is far from convincing.”

In 2021, the BNHS station at Point Calimere recorded two chicks in a massively huge flock of Greater flamingos. S. Balachandran, scientist at the station then, explains why that cannot be considered evidence of Greater flamingo breeding in Tamil Nadu.

“As these two chicks were seen flying, their sighting was not conclusive proof of Greater flamingo breeding at Point Calimere. If the two had not been at flying stage, we would have automatically favoured that conclusion.”

Balachandran continues: “However, we can say with 99 per cent certainty that breeding of Greater flamingos happens in Sri Lanka. It is a section of Sri Lanka where exploration is a challenge as land mines from the old civil war are said to be lying undetected. Through satellite tagging of four Greater flamingos and studying their movements, we are convinced breeding happens in this section of Sri Lanka. For two consecutive years, during summer, these four birds — two from Point Calimere and two from Kanyakumari — would head to Dhanuskodi and take off for Sri Lanka from there.”

Undisturbed patch

Santharam observes that flamingos need a vast undisturbed tract to have nesting colonies, and both Pulicat and Point Calimere are not “ripple-free” being accustomed to movement of people.

He notes that the northern section of Pulicat lake dries up quickly as water distribution is not equal due to the roads cutting across the lake. And that rules out the possibility of Greater flamingo nesting on that section.

“As flamingos live long, the young ones take longer than most other bird species to reach maturity. They will be wearing the juvenile plumage for up to a couple of years. And greater flamingo juveniles can fly all the way from Rann of Kutch,” says Santharam.

The ornithologist highlights another factor arrayed against Greater flamingo nesting in these parts.

“In Gujarat, even in smaller and slightly interior patches, the Lesser flamingos are known to raise smaller colonies, which is not copy-book style in terms of flamingo nesting behaviour. The birds are doing so as they do not feel threatened and disturbed in those patches. Here, such patches are hardly found undisturbed.”

Published - September 23, 2024 01:41 pm IST