Communal Nesting in a Temple Town

Communal Nesting in a Temple Town

On Day 2, we visited a few heronries near Thiruppudaimarathur. The heronries were situated near a temple pond and further inside the village. Major species that were found nesting here were Painted stork, Asian open-billed stork, Cattle egret and Spot-billed pelican. The nesting trees were between 5-20 meters in height. Interestingly, the birds did not seem to nest in the most secluded or protected locations where they would be safe from aerial predators. One could attribute this to a benefit of communal nesting. Also, there seemed to be a clear vertical delineation of site selection among species. The storks preferred higher (more than 10 m) nesting locations whereas the egrets preferred lower (less than 5 m) nesting locations. The tree/canopy architecture didn’t seem to have a major influence on the nesting site. We also spotted other birds such as Asian koel, Common myna, etc in and around the nesting trees. Some trees were roosting locations for the Indian flying fox, a large bat species. Based on our preliminary observations, there didn’t seem to be any conflicts stemming from habitat use by flying mammals and birds. While we were at the site, one of the painted stork chicks was on the ground, likely having fallen from the nest, and still seemed to be surviving, probably still being fed by its parents.