Chennai: Ecology and study of bird life are now part of engineering academics. Vellore Institute of Technology is now promoting ornithology among its engineering students, who are part of the Vellore Nature Club.
Students are now combing the adjacent hillocks, their college campus and Palar river bed and have identified 76 bird species, including 13 rare species like Grey Francolin, Treepie, Crested serpent eagle and yellow wattled lapwing in Vellore, said professor Sai Saraswathi, coordinator, Nature Club - VIT.
“Our vice president G.V. Selvam has instructed the nature club to focus on butterfly conservation and insect biodiversity and we are awaiting for the monsoon to commence”, she said, adding that as part of the initiative the institute started the Nature Club in 2014 and the next year bird feeders were installed in VIT campus to help the breeding of nesting birds. And now our students are in the field with ornithologists learning the nuances of bird watching, the professor added.
“It’s been a fascinating experience for me on the campus and regularly spend my time near the college lake. After sighting a bird, we record the same in a log book and the picture of the bird captured is shared to Tiruchy based Biodiversity Conservation Foundation of India for identification and documentation”, says Anirudh Itagi, a second year B. Tech student of VIT. My favourite bird is kingfisher and now I am studying about the different species within kingfisher family, adds budding bird watcher Itagi.
“After six months of bird watching the students are now showing interest
in insect biodiversity and butterflies. They have amazing energy for such outreach programmes as they explore something, which is not there in the books”, says conservation scientist, A Kumaraguru of Biodiversity Conservation Foundation of India, who helps the students in their eco projects.
