340 KINDS OF BIRDS IN MALABAR

340 KINDS OF BIRDS IN MALABAR

A new survey by forest and wildlife department has stated that there are 340 kinds of birds in the Malabar region and among them 14 belong to rare species. The survey, which was conducted from November 2010 to October 2011, was submitted to the authorities. The survey was conducted in 12 places in districts of Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanand, Kannur and Kasargod. The survey was held in Wayanad, Aralam, Malabar wild life sanctuaries, Silent Valley national heritage garden, reserve forests, wet lands, Attappadi, Siruvani and Nilambur too.

The main finding of the survey is that it found 23 kinds of bird belonging to rare species, which was included by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in the endangered species list.There are 15 kinds of birds only seen in Western Ghats region. Among them 53 % are included in endangered species list. There are 1149 eagles of 32 breeds in Malabar. The survey was conducted by a team led by C Sasikumar and S Raju, CK Vishnudas, VI Shebin and PA Vinayan.

                                                  Prof. John Kurakar