Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 August 2013 | 5(12): 4641–4652 First detailed survey of waterbirds in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts, Tamil Nadu, India Communication K. Abhisheka 1, J. Patrick David 2, M.B. Prashanth 3, K.S. Seshadri 4 & T. Ganesh 5 ISSN Online 0974–7907 Print 0974–7893 1,2,3,4,5 Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur post, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560064, India OPEN ACCESS Present address: 2 Careearth Trust, 8/15, 2nd Main Road, Thillaiganga Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600061, India Present address: 4 Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543 1
[email protected] (corresponding author), 2
[email protected], 3
[email protected], 4
[email protected], 5
[email protected] Abstract: The semi-arid districts of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu consist of numerous wetlands in the form of irrigation tanks, interconnected by an ancient network of canals, and fed by the rivers originating from the Western Ghats. While these irrigation tanks have socio-economic and cultural significance, very little is known of their ecological importance. These tanks have the potential to harbor good populations of resident and wintering waterbirds but no studies have been done to confirm this. A survey was carried out in 230 irrigation tanks of various sizes in the two districts from November 2008 to January 2011. A total of 83 waterbird species were recorded. Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii occurred in most of the surveyed tanks.