Heronries of Kerala 2016

Results of Heronry Count in Kerala for the year of 2016
Authors: Roshnath R & C Sashikumar

1. Heronries of Kerala 2016
An Overview
Roshnath R. and C. Sashikumar

2. Summary
No. of Sites 81
Nests 6141
Species 9
TotalNo nesting trees 359
A total of 6141 nests belonging to 9 species of waterbirdsfrom 81 sites were
counted during the survey in 5 district of Kerala.
The 5 districts were –Kasaragod, Kannur, Alappuzha, Kollam, Kottayam and
Trivandrum

3. 15
1
12
31
18
4
5
2
5
8
4
8
294 50
2713
1702
842
540
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
TrivandrumKollamAlappuzhaKannurKasaragodKottayam
Number
Districts
District wise number of sites, species and nests
no of sites
no. of species
no. of nests

4. 29%
34%
2%
15%
16%
2%
2%0%0%
Percentage composition of species in 2016
Little Cormorant
Indian Pond Heron
Little Egret
Oriental Darter
Indian Cormorant
Night Heron
Intermediate Egret
Great Egret
Purple Heron

5. Little
Cormorant
29%
Indian Pond-
Heron
28%
Little Egret
14%
Oriental Darter
10%
Indian
Cormorant
6%
Black-crowned Night-
Heron
5%
Intermediate
Egret
4%
Black-headed
Ibis
3%
Others
1%
Percentage of the breeding birds 2015
Little Cormorant
29%
Indian Pond
Heron
34%
Little Egret
2%
Oriental Darter
15%
Indian
Cormorant
16%
Night Heron
2%
Intermediate
Egret
2%
Great Egret
0%
Purple Heron
0%
Percentage composition of species in 2016

6. Participants
Trivandrum Kollam AlappuzhaKannur KasaragodKottayam
AK SivakumarAK Sivakumar
Harikumar
Mannar Roshnath R Roshnath R Sreekumar
JaichandJohnsonJeffin John Rajeesh R Sachin C SajuVasan
Jeffin Govind Girija Sethu Dinesh Sudeep N Unnikrishnan
Govind G Ashli Jose GijuKumarakom
ShibyMossess

7. Minutes of 2016 meeting
Proposals given to KFD on heronry conservation to be actively followed
up.
PO Nameer
Proposal for conservation of top ten heronries to KFD Roshnath
Update all heronry data in eBird Roshnath, Praveen J
Circulate recent heronry data sheet to Shah Jahanetc Roshnath Done
Create an online Heronry Data form Shah Jahan
Identification of threatened heronries

8. Sl. No.District Site Habitat No of
nest
Threat
1 Wayanad Panamaram River 648 Sand mining
2 Alappuzha Vada canal Wetland 610 Tree felling, bursting crackers
3 Alappuzha Ennakkad Islet of Acacia 448 No threat being isolated islet
4 Thrissur KallettumkaraNon-residential area
(Railway station)
443 Natural predation, crackers, Cutting trees,
branches
5 Mahe Mahe church Roadside 265 Disturbance during nesting season
6 Alappuzha PallippadpunchaResidential compound near
wetland
258 Disturbances from tree custodians
7 Kannur Naniyoor Islet of mangroves 237 No present threat (poaching reported
earlier)
8 Palakkad PittupeedikaRoadside 237 Cutting down of branches and natural death
of trees due to Guano deposit
9 Kannur ValapattanamMangroves 218 Encroachments by timber factory
10 Kottayam Nagampadom Roadside 218 Road widening, Public nuisance
11 Kasaragod Kanhangad Non-residential area
(Railway station)
208 Cutting down of tree branches
12 Alappuzha Pavukkara, Residential compound near
wetland
206 Tree damage from guano deposit
13 Malappuram Klari, MSP campMSP compound 203 No threat inside MSP compound
14 Palakkad Pazhambalakod
e
Roadside 185 Cutting down of tree branches/ trees
15 Malappuram VK Padi Roadside 177 Cutting down of tree branches
Threats faced by Top 15 heronry site in Kerala during 2015 heronry survey

9. Achieved (in 2016 minutes)
•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.

10. Heronries to Heritage sites

11. Future?
•Survey to be done in all districts?
•Lack of response from KFD in many districts
•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 can be tried out
and if found successful, can be implemented in other places also.

12. Thank You