News
- A quarter century of ornithological observations of wetland birds of Kerala come with a mixed bag of joy and despair for birders.
Ornithology
- Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds.
- The science of ornithology has a long history and studies on birds have helped develop several key concepts in evolution, behaviour and ecology such as the definition of species, the process of speciation, instinct, learning, ecological niches, guilds, island biogeography,phylogeography and conservation.
Key Observations
- At a time when the wetlands of the State are facing multi-pronged threats, the population of a few bird species has been found soaring whereas some others have nose-dived in the population chart.
- Researchers focused their attention on the data generated from the four Ramsar sites of the State – Sasthamkotta Lake, Ashtamudi Lake, Vembanad Lake and Kole Wetlands – and also the other important wetland habitats to get a bird’s eye view of the population trends of wetland avian fauna.
- The annual census, coordinated by Wetlands International, also happens to be the first country-wide citizen science activity on natural history in India.
Threats identified
- Demographic pressure, industrial development, pollution, urbanisation, agriculture and aquaculture and water transport have been adding pressure on the wetlands of the State.
- Reclamation of wetlands and the aquatic ecosystems, which are often considered as wastelands, is spelling trouble to several taxa.
- The stake nets used for fishing removes a wide array of non-target organisms, which are functionally important to the aquatic environment.
- Destructive fishing practise are also taking a toll on the bird population, it was reported.
- Unregulated fishing, reclamation of wetlands, dumping of solid waste and domestic sewage too posed threats to the wetlands of Kerala, according to ornithologists
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