Spot Billed Pelican and Pulicat Lake

Spot Billed Pelican and Pulicat Lake

Subject : Environment

Concept :

About Spot Billed Pelican

• The Spot-billed Pelican is a large water bird found in India and other parts of Southeast Asia.
• It is the only pelican species that is known to breed in India, and it is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and hunting.
• The Spot-billed Pelican can be found in wetlands, lakes, rivers, and estuaries, where it feeds on fish, frogs, and other aquatic prey.
• They have weak leg muscles which is not ideal for, therefore they catch fish near the surface of the water.
• This species sometimes goes fishing in groups, forming a semi-circle that pushes the fish towards shallow water. It also forms a foraging partnership with the little cormorant.
• Cormorants are divers, and their dives cause the fish present in deeper regions to scatter towards the surface, where the pelican awaits them.
• Adult spot-billed pelicans weigh 4.5-5 kg. The pouch, which is called the gular, is for catching fish.
• Spot-billed pelicans form stable colonies along with other water birds. Nests are built on trees, and two-three eggs are laid. When they are about a month old, the chicks destroy the nests.
• Breeding colonies occur very close to, or even within villages. Villagers use the droppings of the spot-billed pelican as a fertiliser.
• After the breeding season, pelican populations scatter over a very large area as they forage for food.
• The best places to spot the Spot-billed Pelican in India are the Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan, Pulicat Lake, Andhra Pradesh, the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, Chilika Lake in Odisha, Kokkare Bellur and Karanji Lake in Karnataka.

Pulicat Lake

• Pulicat Lagoon is the second largest brackish water lagoon in India, after Chilika Lake. It is present in the Coromondal Region i.e. Andhra Pradesh–Tamil Nadu Border.
• The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of Bengal and is home to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
• The lake encompasses the Pulicat Lake Bird Sanctuary.
• Flamingo Festival is held every year to promote tourism in Pulicatlake and Nellapattu. It has been organised for the past 12 years
• The primary inflows to the Pulicat Lake are Arani, Kalangi and Swarnamukhi.
• About 96% of the Pulicat Lake is present in Andhra Pradesh while only 3% is present in Tamil Nadu.
• The Buckingham Canal, a navigation channel, is part of the lagoon on its western side.