The villagers have observed a decreasing number of the avian visitors that come to the village for
breeding and nesting purposes. The villagers attribute this decrease due to lack of nesting space
for these birds. At present there are 23 tree species, including tamarind, Delonix elata, karanj,
banyan and shirish, placed in the heart of the village. Although there are many trees around the
village, the birds seem to prefer nesting in the heart of the village itself.
Some of the threats to the birds are:
1. During the time of the north-east monsoon, particularly during heavy rains, many young ones
fall from their nests, and despite various attempts made by the villagers to save them, very few
of them survive.
2. The local Yerikala tribe hunts the birds with nets and guns at the Badvel tank and occasionally
even try to poach the birds in the village. However they have been driven away by the villagers
several times.
3. Pisciculture is being encouraged by the Government as a means of revenue generation from
auctioning the tanks, and this seems to pose a threat to the birds due to lack of food required
for breeding.
4. There is a lack of nesting space for the birds on the trees in the village. This is because the birds
occupy most of the big trees in the village, and once the birds roost the tree canopy reduces due
to the guano/bird excreta, the acidic content of which reduces the canopy cover. Local people
informed that the number of trees has also reduced in the last few years.