White necked stork,Woolly necked stork,Episcopos or Ciconia Episcopus{KARUVARAKKURU}

migratory birds along the coast of Bharathappuzha 3

When we classify the waders and shore birds they can be  columned  into three groups,mainly cranes ,storks and,herons.We have read  that cranes are not found in Kerala.Storks both open billed and  White necked storks are found in the inland wet lands and rice fields along the banks of Bharathappuzha.Open billed storks have been found searching for food along with white necked storks and herons.

. Storks make long distance migration in response to food availability and  weather conditions.Storks are broad winged soaring birds which rely on moving between thermals on hot air for sustained flight.Thermals are columns of rising air that are formed on the ground through the warming of surface by the sunlight.Once a thermal life is encountered  the stork keeps to soar within thermals.after attaining altitude within the same thermal .They may fly off  to the next thermal towards destination.

Pandyalan pakshi ,{locally called so} is a large bird with  .black plumage  with purple hue.The forked black tail is concealed by the long white under tail.It has long red legs and strong blackish beak. children call this vakkeel pakshi in kerala.vakkeel means lawyer.the bird derives the name from the colour of the uniform worn  by the lawyers.

. We can find fables in Dutch mythology  that suggest babies are brought by storks.Storks nesting on ones roof meant good luck often in the form of family happiness.

White necked  storks are  found  from mid july to march mainly in the inland wet lands along the banks of Bharathapuzha.  Thus the major migratory birds along the banks of Bharathapuzha include, Black headed seagull, Moorhen, Bronze winged jacana, Open billed stork ,Ibis and white necked storks.

White necked storks can be taken as the local migrants that we find along the banks of Bharathapuzha..we can  not say that it is a migrant bird. I have  seen the nest at the top branch of a tree near a  very aged peepal tree close by Kurinhikkavu temple at Manniamperumbalam in february two years back.It wouldn’t be correct to say that they search for food along the banks of the river or in the  shallow waters of the river itself because I couldnt spot the birds   along the sand banks or shallow waters of the river, though I could find them several times on inland wetlands and rice fields,their  food searching habitat along the banks of Nila.

It prefers water logged ground and also cultivated area. It feeds on fish.frogs.snakkes .crabs and molluscs.It picks   up the prey with the long bill.they rarely wade.white necked stork walks slowly and steadily searching prey.they rarely wade.the stork is seen standing motionless or resting .

They engage time in drying their wings and preening during monsoon days. “” kaka dhrushty , bakadhyanam, in this way go the thecharacteristics of  a good student. Bakam  means stork. so good student should posses the meditative quality of a stork.

White necked  storks are  found  from mid july to march mainly in the inland wet lands along the banks of Bharathapuzha.  Thus the major migratory birds along the banks of Bharathapuzha include, Black headed seagull, Open billed stork ,Ibis and white necked storks.