Bronze-winged Jacana visits Pallikaranai after three years

According to the bird watchers, they were able to sight a single Jacana at Pallikaranai marshland in 2014, though such birds were common in the southern parts of the state. Since these birds were sensitive, they had not come back to the marshland due to pollution and improper maintenance. 

KVRK Thirunaranan, founder, The Nature Trust, said that they were very happy on seeing the bird in the marshland. “Interestingly, we documented this Bronze-winged Jacana in the northern side of the marshland very recently after three years. Three decades ago such kinds of birds were sighted frequently in the same area. 

However, the number dwindled to single digits due to huge encroachment and human disturbances,” the bird watcher said and added that the bird belonged to Charadriidae (family plovers) family. Thirunaranan also pointed out that the return of such a rare bird was a clear indication that the forest officials had taken improvement works to a considerable extent. 

“Even in the case of flamingoes, the marshland is recording thousands of birds nowadays, while the number was only one in 2008,” he said. Similarly, G Vijayakumar, secretary, Madras Naturalists’ Society, said that Bronze-winged Jacana is a shy bird. 

“It will be difficult for bird watchers to spot this bird, though there could be more birds in the area. However, it is a happy news for us to spot the bird in Chennai,” he said. 

When contacted, S Ashokan, District  Forest Officer, Chennai,  said that the forest department is taking necessary measures to protect the birds. “All the works relating to improving marshland are apace and we are expecting more migratory birds in the coming days,” the DFO claimed.