Heronries of 2015 An Overview Summary

• A total of 11,550 nests belonging to 16 of waterbirds from 194 sites were counted during the survey in10 district of Kerala. • No information available on heronries from , Eranakulam and Idukki districts.

2014 2015 Difference No of nests 10380 11550 +1170 No of sites 157 194 +37 No of species 14 16 +2 District covered 11 10 -1 Number of Heronries, Species and Nests in the 10 Districts, 2015

70 3000

60 62 2414 2500 2181 50 2000 1726 40 Number 36 1500 30 1016 No. of Heronry 901 943 26 19 1000 No. of species 20 771 707 15 15 555 No. of nest 9 9 9 8 8 12 336 500 10 6 6 6 4 4 5 5 2 0 0

District Percentage of the breeding Black-headed Others 3% 1% Intermediate 4%

Black-crowned Night- 5%

Indian 6% 29%

Oriental 10%

Little Egret 14% Indian Pond-Heron 28% Number of nest and heronries, 2015

1 Woolly-necked 1 1 1 1 2 3 5 1 8 1 Cattle Egret 8 1 25 5 84 No of sites 3 Black-headed Ibis 329 No of nest 18 417 36 Black-crowned Night-Heron 597 12 Indian Cormorant 729 17 1119 65 1552 149 Indian Pond-Heron 3277 101 Little Cormorant 3396

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 Top ten heronries in Kerala, 2015 Sites No of nests (Wayanad) 648 Vadakanal north ( ) 610 Ennakkad (Alappuzha) 448 (Railway station compound, ) 443 Mahe 265 Pallippad puncha (Alapuzha ) 258 Naniyoor mangrove () 237 Pittupeedika () 237 Nagampadom () 218 Valapattanam mangrove (Kannur) 218 Two new species found nesting in Kerala

Species No of nests Site District

Woolly-necked Stork 1 Vadakkancheri Thrissur

Asian Openbill Stork 25 Thirunavaya Heronries of Kerala Concerns and Conservation? MINUTES 2015

Heronry Conservation

•Installing Pandal (Marquee) in heronries should still be proposed. However, list of large (top ten) heronries where it can happen is required. Action: Coordinators, Roshnath

A) Sites were identified but no funds for creating pandal

•Propose to KFD installation of platforms in wetlands for nesting waterbirds as a pilot. Action: P.O.Nameer •A) PON ?

•Propose use of nets on trees as pilot in public places where heronry nuisance if major. • Identify the heronries where this has to be done. Action: Roshnath. • Propose the list to KFD. Action: P.O.Nameer A) Coordinators of each district are requested to list the sites and forward.

•Note: Heronry conservation is not aimed at protecting all heronries. It is aimed at reducing animosity of people towards the birds, avoid felling of trees and attempt to move the heronries away from human settlements. Recommendations (From Heronry Census Report, 2014)

•The heronries should be visited by the local forest department officials periodically during the breeding season.

•With the help of the local birdwatchers, conservation groups should be created locally similar to the Eco Development Committees (EDC) or Vana Samrakshana Samithis (VSS). These groups should monitor the heronries, create awareness in the general public and protect the heronry from possible threats. Some members of these groups could be trained and utilised for data collection.

•In the case of large heronries, watchers should be appointed for the season.

•In case of heronries in public places where the local people complain of nuisance caused by droppings etc., tarpaulin sheets should be placed below the nest trees. At some appropriate sites, “heronry guards” (this was designed by Praveen Mohandas. For details, see Appendix 2) can be tried out and if found successful, can be implemented in other places also.

Clarification about the role of KFD in heronry survey and conservation

• Support for heronry survey (Logistics? Funds?): absolute necessity in districts with a large number of heronries; e.g. Palakkad. • Notifying heronry sites as protected area? • In Kannur, the Social Forestry Division, KFD has promised all help for conducting the survey. They are also planning to put up sign boards at the major heronries, highlighting the protection status of the nesting birds and their ecological importance. They have requested for suggestions from the birdwatchers on how to implement this proposal effectively. List of participants in the 2015 Heronry Survey

District Participants mail id Palakkad Raju S [email protected] Roshnath R. [email protected] Aravind B Sooraj Bimalnath Viviyan K. Alappuzha Harikumar [email protected] Kannur Roshnath R. [email protected] Ajai .P. [email protected] Ashli Jose Jayakrishnan kottayamnaturesociety@gmail. Sethu Dinesh com Sooraj Vipin.v.nath Wayanad CK Vishanudas [email protected] Sajith Manoj k Sujith Harilal Kottayam Sreekumar.B kottayamnaturesociety@gmail. com Jafer Palot [email protected] Shiby Mossess Dipu Karuthedathu Unnikrishnan Mujeeb P M Saju Vasan Malappuram Raju S [email protected] Giju Vijesh Hari Mavelikara [email protected] Thrissur Raju S [email protected] A.K. Sivakumar Manoj K, Ananthakrishnan Arya Vinod Lithesh Rafi Kallettumkara Sajin Seethi. S Thank you