KANNUR: The 19th bird survey conducted jointly by the forest and wildlife department and Malabar Natural History Society (MNHS) which concluded here on Tuesday spotted two new species of birds at the Aralam wildlife sanctuary.
Wildlife warden Shajna identified them as woolly-necked stork (Karuvarakkuru) and white-bellied drongo (Kakkarajan)."The number of bird species spotted at Aralam has risen to 246. But we were able to see only 152 species during the three-day survey this time. The reason should be looked into and a detailed report published soon," she said. The two new species are dry land ones, captured by deputy range forest officer at Narikkadavu, Jayesh Joseph, on his camera.
Only 30 bird watchers were allowed this time due to the wildfire threat in the scorching heat. The bird watchers included Roshnath, Bimalnath and Sushant Madapurakkal and they focused on five major points in the sanctuary.
Sathyan Meppayur, Jayesh Joseph, assistant wildlife warden Jayaprakash, C. Sasikumar and others spoke at the inaugural function.
