Popular Birding Locations in Chennai, India
Wilderness Areas and Water Bird Sanctuaries for Great Bird Watching
Chennai, earlier known as Madras, has always been of interest for birdwatchers with its fascinating biodiversity. Here you will find the rare occurrence of a National Park within city limits as well as estuarine and coastal ecology, all home to a variety of resident and migrant land and water birds.
Guindy National Park: National Park within the City
A rare example of a National Park within city limits, Guindy National Park is better known as home to a highly endangered population of Black Buck. Its mixed vegetation of trees, shrub and grassland make it specially interesting for birding, and the park is host to almost forty species of birds, more common being a variety of predators, lapwings, bee-eaters and sunbirds. A small lake in one end of the park also attracts the odd water bird.
Adyar Estuary and Theosophical Gardens
The estuarine area where the Adyar River meets the Bay of Bengal is a great place to watch white-bellied sea eagles, plovers, gulls and terns, wagtails, pipits and a host of other birds. The best option would be to visit the estuary from within the Theosophical Society, if you can get permission. Enquiries around the old broken Adyar bridge would also help you locate other spots to watch from.
Vedanthangal Water Bird Sanctuary
About 75 km from Chennai, Vedanthangal is a fascinating breeding ground and is host to a variety of resident and migrant birds including storks, spoonbills, moorhens, white ibis, cormorants, and even the odd grey or spot-billed pelican. This ancient sanctuary gets its name from the village nearby that has traditionally protected the birds. The Forest Department offers accommodation if you would like to stay overnight for early morning birding.
Pulicat Lake: Famous for Flamingos
A forty-km drive from Chennai, Pulicat Lake, located in Andhra Pradesh, is India’s second largest brackish water lake. The Sriharikota Island separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal. A great place to watch a variety of water birds, Pulicat is specially known for its sightings of large flocks of flamingos, specially around December and January. Other birds include painted storks, terns, egrets. Pulicat Lake also serves as the feeding ground of large flocks of pelicans, which breed in the nearby Nellapattu Bird Sanctuary.
Nellapattu Bird Sanctuary: Breeding Ground for Spot Billed Pelicans
About twenty km from Pulicat Lake is the Nellapattu Bird Sanctuary, one of the largest pelican habitats in South East Asia. The best time to catch the pelicans here is in the early morning, before they leave for Pulicat Lake, or in the evening, when they return to roost.
If you are serious about birding, plan to spend several days in Chennai, and take in a variety of interesting locations; a national park within the city, an estuary, India’s second largest brackish water lake, an ancient bird sanctuary and one of South East Asia’s largest pelicanry.
Related Reading
If you enjoyed reading this, you might want to more about Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, and about Pulicat Lake. You might also want to read about Indian wildlife in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.
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