Adult birds sitting on guard close to their tree-top nest at Veerapuram in Chilamathur Mandal of Sri Sathya Sai District of Andhra Pradesh.
| Photo Credit: RAMESH SUSARLA
One of the most important flock of painted storks ( Mycteria leucocephala), roughly 4,000 birds, have made tall timber in Veepapuram and Venkatapuram villages in Chilamathur mandal of Sri Sathya Sai district their breeding floor, and are at the moment taking care of 6,000 chicks. By May-end to June-end when the chicks are greater than three months outdated, they are going to fly away together with adults. They principally inhabit wetlands within the plains breed nearer to undisturbed/protected timber
Copious quantities of rain obtained within the area throughout final monsoon has made it probably the most beneficial breeding floor for these vibrant winged visitors. While painted storks have been coming to those villages for greater than 25 years, the numbers have slowly risen. While it was solely 2,500 to three,000 in 2019, two years of excellent rains has introduced sufficient shallow water into the each village tanks making them the fitting wading grounds for the painted storks, who survive on small fish, and infrequently on frogs and snakes.
Venugopal Reddy, a resident of Veerapuram, had been taking care of the birds and chicks that fall to the bottom and feeding them by offering safety from canines, eagles, and different predators. Andhra Pradesh Department of Forests had appointed him because the watch and ward and promised to present some honorarium together with cash for medicines to are likely to the birds. Divisional Forest Officer G.P. Anand mentioned they’d sought funds for this exercise of their finances.
Detailing the wants of enormous variety of birds (an estimate of hen lovers’ together with Mr. Reddy), the most important expenditure is in shopping for fish for the fallen chick, (although fortunately none have fallen from nests this 12 months) as every chick wants 500 gm to 600 gm of fish a day (about 9 fish fed in two periods) and as they develop as much as 1 kg.
The adults sit on guard in opposition to solar and eagles on the tree-top nests by turns and make a number of sorties a day to feed three chicks on a mean. Those laying eggs in January have 4 chicks, whereas the later ones have two or three. The adults generally fall to the bottom because of exhaustion and such massive birds must be given glucose water and launched, says Mr. Venugopal, who had been doing this exercise via some small donations from bird-lovers to ‘Save Our Souls’ run by this villager. “Even those funds have exhausted and donations dried up during COVID-19,” he explains.
Kokrebellur village in Maddur taluk of Mandya district of Karnataka is the most important breeding floor for these lovely birds, however Veerapauram on the border of Bagepalli in Karnataka, housing equally massive variety of birds has been among the finest vacationer points of interest as it’s near large Lepakshi Nandi and Veerabhadra Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh.
