Conservation of birds in Telangana is poor

Hyderabad: Telangana state, with 408 identified species of birds, has a poor record in conserving birds. The state is ranked 18th, much behind AP which is at the 13th position, as far as conserving birds is concerned.

In Telangana state, Ranga Reddy district tops in conservation efforts followed by Medak. Hyderabad stands fourth. Much of the damage was done in undivided AP. The focus was on the bird sanctuaries in Godavari delta and the Coringa sanctuary in Kakinada along with Nalepattu and Pulicat lake gained prominence.

The TS government’s Mission Kakatiya and Haritha Haaram are expected to revive water bodies and revitalise the wet and wooded habitat. Negligence in preserving eco-heritage sites abutting lakes and the catchment area, ignoring the well being of fauna and flora and rapid urbanisation have led to a dwindling in the number of birds.

Experts, who have raised the alarm, said Telangana needs to show genuine interest in building bird sanctuaries and preserving the natural habitat.

Different species of resident and migratory birds found in the city’s lakes include the desert wheatear, greater flamingos, white wagtail, yellow wagtail, small pratincole, oriental pratincole, river tern, Eurasian spoonbill, bronze-winged jacana, pheasant tailed jacana, Indian eagle owl, spotted owl, common hawk cuckoo, Shikra, Brahminy kite, black kite, black winged stilt, greater cormorant, little cormorant, ruddy shelduck, common coot, northern pintail, common kingfisher, white-throated kingfisher, pied kingfisher, red munia, Indian silverbill, scaly-breasted munia, Indian robin, common kestrel, pied bushchat, zitting cisticola, raptors, common hoopoe, cattle egret, little egret and intermediate egret.