Karnataka: A wall to woo winged visitors to Yediyur
Yediyur Corporator Poornima Ramesh said the initiative will help attract migratory birds and allow them to stay there.
Bengaluru: For the first ever time in the city, bio-diversity birds wall and bio-diversity birds tower has been launched at the Yediyur lake to attract different species of birds. Yediyur Corporator Poornima Ramesh said the initiative will help attract migratory birds and allow them to stay there.
She claimed Yediyur lake has rich history and was home for 59 species of migratory and local species of birds. With the bio-diversity wall and tower coming up, the lake is likely to attract over 120 species of birds from different parts of the country and the world.
Birds from Europe, Australia, Srilanka, South Africa, China, Nepal, Siberia, Kashmir and a few north eastern parts are likely to visit here, she said. The bio-diversity wall and tower have space. Similar initiative has helped attract native sparrow, whose number had dwindled drastically.The bio-diversity wall and tower were inaugurated by Mayor G Padmavathi.
Expert rebuts corporator’s claim
However, amateur ornithologist and pharmacist, S. G. Srinivas denied Poornima’s claim and said some of the species mentioned are unlikely to visit Yediyur as the lake is surrounded by concrete structures.The size of the lake is also small and some birds prefer large space and large number of fish to feed on.
Unfortunately, unauthorized fishing by local people is also a deterrence for migratory birds coming there, he said. However, some species like Indian pond heron, little cormorant, great cormorant, black kite, Brahminy kite are commonly spotted, while spot-billed duck, purple heron, white-throated kingfisher and white-browed wagtail are occasionally spotted.
Some species like little stint, northern shoveller, pintail are unlikely to be spotted at Yediyur. They may be spotted at lakes located on the periphery of the city such as Hebbal and Jakkur lakes and those at Kanakapura.