Flamingos of Lake Pulicat

It was the summer of 2002, I was on a summer break in Chennai staying at my Maternal Grandparent's home. when my Uncle told me he will show me Flamingos near Chennai. Being a newbie Bird-Watcher, I didn't believe him and argued back that Flamingos are only found in Africa and South America. He said why don't you come with me tomorrow to a place called Tada, an hour or two journey in train from Tiruvottiyur in North Madras.

Thus I came to know the existence of these beautiful pink coloured avian wonders quite nearby to home. :)

So next day was one of the most exciting and memorable birding days of my life.. I was so excited and happy to see these tall and graceful birds with naked eyes..I never felt the harsh summer sun nor the salty humid weather at the backwaters of Pulicat the entire day.This incident had a remarkable effect as it made me realise the need to know more about birds in my Country and prompted me to get my own copy of the bird guide book for the Indian Subcontinent. Looking through the guide I realised I had sighted just one among the two beautiful flamingo species found in our county, i.e the Greater Flamingo.

Flamingos in general are water birds which are called as waders. When they hatch they are greyish is colour and as they grow they acquire the magnificent pink colouration to their feathers due to the bacteria and beta-carotenes they obtain from their food.

They are social birds often found in large colonies consisting of hundreds and thousands of individuals and I was very surprised when in my recent trip I found out a lone individual casually feeding far away from the nearest colony. 

Flamingos are filter feeders, whose primary diet is Shrimps and Algae. Their beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they eat, and are uniquely used upside-down The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae which line the upper portion of the mouth, and the large rough-surfaced tongue. Here is a picture depicting the typical upside down feeding style of flamingos.

Sadly in my last few visits I have been observing some disturbing trends. Proposals of development projects such as a Harbour and SEZs have led to an increase in the value of land around Pulicat leading to people converting their fertile cultivation lands to real estate plots thus adding worries to already dwindling agriculture practices. With the harbour and several associated industries coming up I wonder till when these beautiful birds and several thousands other resident and migratory birds can call this 2nd largest brackish water lake a safe haven.