Singanallur Lake
Singanallur Lake is a lake in Singanallur, Coimbatore. It is one of the 9 large
lakes in the city. A railway track connecting Podanur and Irugur passes through
this lake. Over 110 species of birds have been spotted in this lake.
The setting may not seem perfect to host these bright and
beautiful migratory birds. But the Singanallur tank, considered to be the most
polluted in the region has grown to be a welcome abode for winged visitors.
The tank was chosen by the city's civic body for providing
entertainment like boating to Coimbatoreans. As hyacinths proved to be a
spoilsport, it was reduced to a water body filled with sewage water that flows
through the Sanganur canal.
In spite of the murky surroundings, the winged visitors have been
flocking the tank in numbers. Best Time to visit this place is from October to
February; when thousands of winged visitors throng this tank.
The Ukkadam and Sundakkamuthur tanks also attract a large number
of birds and their next most sought-after destination is the Sulur tank.
Coimbatore city is fortunate to have many wetlands but most of
them are highly polluted. Diverse species of birds such as teals, sandpipers,
plovers, storks, pelicans, ibis and terns visit Coimbatore wetlands every year.
Somehow, we are not aware of the significance of this excellent
phenomenon. Many of these visitors such as teals come from very far off lands
such as Siberia. However, some like the spot billed pelicans and painted storks
that are found in hundreds in the Singanallur tank these days are not foreign
species
They are our native birds which nest and bring up their young ones
in North India and our neighbouring States such as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
They also migrate locally and en route, they reach Coimbatore tanks once a
year.
Though many Coimbatore lakes play host to them, they seem to love
the Singanallur tank, if one were to go by the number of birds found here.
The Singanallur tank has the highest number of resident birds as
well migratory population recorded in the last two years. The relative calm of
the place and low human interference might be the reason why the tank is a
favourite with the birds.
The other birds spotted here are marsh harrier, egret, wagtail,
cormorant (water crow) and painted stork. Spot-billed Pelican, which is listed
in the vulnerable section of International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) category, is an important bird indicator which highlights the significance
of any wetland.
If the population of this bird that migrates from one wetland to
another is more than 250, then the tank can be considered for selection as a
wetland of international conservation importance. India has many such wetlands.
Painted storks, always seen in flocks, are beautiful - with their
yellow bills with a curved tip, and bodies with distinctive pink and black
bands. They are migratory birds that visit the wetlands of Coimbatore and stay
on for months.
The network of manmade wetlands in the Coimbatore region is a
lifeline. The city has grown around them. Eventually, the wetland is the
ecosystem that supports birds.
Globally near threatened species, Spot-billed Pelicans, Painted
Storks and Oriental White Ibis, are still flocking Coimbatore tanks as visitors
during July to January.
A total of 5,777 Spot-billed Pelicans and 3,146 Painted Storks
were spotted in the city tanks five years ago. Now their numbers have dwindled
to almost one fifth. Rare birds like Western Marsh Harrier, Little Crake,
Pallied Harrier, Gadwall, White- necked Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Marsh
Sandpiper, Black-headed Oriole and Black- bellied Tern were also reported seen
in the study.
Water birds, being generally at or near the top of most wetland
food chains, are highly susceptible to habitat disturbances and are, therefore,
indicators of the condition of the wetlands.
Another study by Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, on
diatom (unicellular algae) based pollution monitoring in urban wetlands of
Coimbatore (2009) found 96 species of diatoms belonging to 34 genera. These
diatom assemblages indicated Vedapatti, Perur and Sundakkamuthur as moderately
polluted while Pallapalayam, Noyyal and Singanallur wetlands are heavily
polluted.
Recent toxicological study done by a set of school students and
presented at the National Children's Science Congress (2009) showed lower
turbidity and higher pH, dissolved solids, alkalinity, biological oxygen
demand, chemical oxygen demand, calcium, magnesium etc.
Genotoxicity studies done in the last 10 years have established
even DNA damage to the fish and tadpoles found in the Noyyal River. And fishing
in these troubled waters is also rampant.
So food contamination is another threat. An analysis of these
wetlands is the need of the hour as the ecosystem, described as "kidneys
of landscape", are an essential part of civilization. They meet many human
needs such as drinking water, energy, fodder, biodiversity, flood storage,
transport and recreation, and also act as climate stabilizers.
List of birds of Singanallur Lake
This is a list of the birds found at Singanallur
Lake in Coimbatore in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Over 100 species of birds have been spotted in the lake. The
list includes the name in Tamil.
Non-passerines
Cormorants
Herons and Egrets
Storks
Ibis and spoonbill
Kites and Harriers
Ducks
Francolin and Fowl
Crakes and Rail
Jacanas
Plovers and Lapwings
Godwit, Sandpipers and Stilt
Terns
Doves and Pigeons
Parakeet
Cuckoos
Owls
Swifts
Kingfishers
Bee-eaters
Rollers and Hoopoe
Barbets
Woodpeckers
Other Non-Passerines
Passerines
Larks
Martin and Swallows
Wagtails and Pipit
Shrikes and Woodshrikes
Bulbuls
Robin and Chats
Babblers
Warblers, Prinias and Tailorbird
Flycatchers
Flower Peckers
Sunbirds
Munias
Sparrows
Weavers
Starling and Myna
Orioles
Drongos
Crows and Treepies