Bird Diversity of Protected Areas in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 2013
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2013
Bird Diversity of
Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills,
Western Ghats
By
Praveen J. & P.O. Nameer
KeralaBirder
Kerala Forest Department
Indian Bird Conservation Network
Bird Diversity of Protected Areas 2 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 3
2013
Bird Diversity of
Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills,
Western Ghats
Bird Diversity of Protected Areas 4 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 5
2013
Bird Diversity of
Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills,
Western Ghats
By
Praveen J. & P.O. Nameer
KeralaBirder
Kerala Forest Department
Indian Bird Conservation NetworkBird Diversity of Protected Areas
6 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher by Sandeep DasBird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 7
1. INTRODUCTION
The Western Ghats, identified as one of the biodiversity hot spots of the world, is a 1,600 km long
chain of mountain ranges running parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula. The region is
rich in endemic fauna including birds and has been of great interest for biogeography. Monitoring birds
in Western Ghats of Kerala has been regularly done since 1991 and more than 60 surveys have been
carried out in the entire region (Praveen and Nameer, 2008).
Munnar Hills, forming part of the High Ranges of Western Ghats, has six protected areas such as
Eravikulam National Park, Anamudi Shola National Park, Pampadum Shola National Park, Mathikettan
Shola National Park, Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and Kurinjimala Wildlife Sanctuary. The Eravikulam
National Park has an extent of 97 sq. km., Anamudi Shola National Park (7.5 sq. km.), Pampadum Shola
National Park (1.318 sq. km.), Mathikettan Shola National Park (12. 817 sq. km.), Chinnar Wildlife
Sanctuary (90.44 sq. km.) and Kurinjimala Sanctuary (32.00 sq. km.).
There have been two bird survey done at Chinnar in 1996 (Nameer) and 1999 (Namassivayan), while
on Eravikulam the last bird survey was done in 1998 (Uthaman). So there has been a gap of nearly
one and half decade since these two PA’s in Munnar Wildlife Division has been surveyed from the
ornithological point of view. For the other four PA’s, than Eravikulam and Chinnar, no comprehensive
bird surveys have been done until now. All these necessitate a bird survey in the protected areas under
the Munnar Wildlife Division and hence the present survey.Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
8 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
of the various protected areas under the Munnar Wildlife Division
Fig. 1 Map
Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 9
Fig. 2 Map of the Eravikulam National
Park, Munnar
Wildlife Division
Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
10 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
1.1 Objectives
The broad objective of the study is to collect baseline ornithological data in the six protected areas of
Munnar Wildlife Division such as Eravikulam NP, Pampadum Shola NP, Mathikettan Shola NP, Anamudi
Shola NP, and Kurinjimala WLS. The specific objectives include,
Flycatcher, Nilgiri Wood-Pigeon, Nilgiri Pipit and Broad-tailed Grassbird.
Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 11
1.2 Physiography and Study Area
Ten base camps were selected for the study on the birds of the five protected areas in Munnar Hills.
The base camps selected were Rajamala, Eravikulam hut, Kolukkan, Poovar, Varattikulam in Eravikulam
NP (ENP), Top Station at Pambadum Shola National Park, Methappu at Anamudy Shola National Park,
Aduvilanthan at Mathikettan Shola NP and Kadavari & Nduvarpp at Kurinjimala WLS.
Site Altitude
Rajamalai 2100m
Eravikulam Hut 2180m
Kolukkan 2134m
Varattukulam 2245m
Poovar 2135m
Aduvilanthan 1065m
Methappu 2070m
Top Station 1910m
Kadavari 2154m
Neduvarp 2130mBird Diversity of Protected Areas
12 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
RAJAMALAI:
grassland-shola habitat. The highest peak in South India, the Anaimudi (2695m), is located in this
base camp. The tourism pressure in this site is quite high with an average annual visitation of 400,000
visitors. The tourism, however, is very much regulated by the Forest department and is confined to
a very small part of Rajamalai. The tourists are also not permitted to go to Anaimudi. The south and
south western part of this base camp is adjacent to tea plantations.
ERAVIKULAM HUT:
dominated by grassland-shola habitat.
KOLUKKAN:
dominated by grassland-shola habitat.
VARATTUKULAM: is located in the eastern part of the ENP, and this base camp, borders with Marayur
Range of the Marayur Forest Division. The average altitude of this camp is around 1900m, and the
major habitat is grassland-shola.
POOVAR: is the northernmost base camp at ENP, and is contiguous with part of Chinnar WLS. The
average altitude of this camp is around 1900m, and the major habitat is grassland-shola.
METHAPPU: is the base camp at Anamudy Shola National Park (ANP). The average altitude here is
1800m and the habitat is shola forests. The grasslands at this base camp have been planted with black
wattle, few decades back. The shola forest is also quite unique here, which are characterised by tall
trees with 20 to 30m high, which is atypical of the other shola trees at ENP for eg. This location is
also characterised by the giant fern species, Cyathea nilgiriensis and Cyathea crinite. The northern part
of ANP is contiguous with the sandal forests of Kanthallur forest range of Marayur Division, while the
southern part is bordered with the Vattavada region of Marayur. On the north-eastern side ANP shares
its boundary with the Kurinjimala WLS.Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 13
TOP STATION: at base camp selected a Pambadum Shola National Park (PNP). The PNP is contiguous
with Kurinjimala WLS on one part of the northern side, while the other half of the northern boundary
is shared with Vattavada region of Marayur. The base camp was situated along the main road that goes
to the adjacent villages. The habitat on eastern side of the camp was evergreen shola forest while the
western side was wattle plantation. Transects mainly covered the shola forests while general birding
was done along the road. Grasslands are available only once you climb further up from the camp (and
was not covered as part of the survey). The public road to the villages beyond the PNP passes right
through the middle of the national park. One side of the road is dominated by wattle and eucalypts
plantations while other side is dominated by shola forest. There was also a check dam constructed near
the base camp which attracts common birds like Magpie-Robin, Pond-Heron, White-breasted Kingfisher
etc. Old Munnar-Kodaikanal Road (now not in use) passes through the shola areas of the national park.
ADUVILANTHAN: base camp is at Mathikettan Shola NP (MNP). The MNP is not-contiguous with any
other shola national parks of Munnar division.MNP forms part of the Cardamom Hill Reserve and is
primarily disturbed evergreen forests or abandoned cardamom plantations. The average altitude is
1065m.
KADAVARI: is the base camp at Kurinjimala WLS. The Kurinjimala Sanctuary is contiguous to Chinnar
Wildlife Sanctuary to the north, Manjappetty National Park of Anamalai Tiger Reserve to the north-east,
Anamudi shola National Park to the north-west, Pampadum shola National Park to the south and the
proposed Palani Hills National Park to the east and thus form a vast stretch of high altitude shola and
grassland ecosystem of high ecological, floral, faunal and geo-morphological significance. The attitude
ranges between 1600-2400m for the Kurinjimala WLS, while the average altitude of the Kadavari base
camp is 2000m. The habitat at this base camp was dominated by wattle, up to about 70% and the
remaining 30% as shola. The presence of giant fern species, Cyathea sp. could be seen here too.
NDUVARPP: is the base camp at Kurinjimala WLS. This base camp also the habitat was more or less
similar to that of Kadavari and was dominated by wattle, with a greater proportion under wattle to
the tune of up to about 90% and the remaining 10% as grasslands and shola. The average altitude is
2000m.Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
14 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
Fig. 3 The contour map
of Eravikulam
National
Park Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 15
1.3 Climate
The Eravikulam enjoys a tropical montane climate. The average annual rainfall is about 5000 to
6500mm. The area receives both south-west as well as north-east monsoons. The mean monthly
minimum temperature is 11.9oC, while the mean monthly maximum temperature is 22.5oC.
1.4 Vegetation
Three major types of plant communities are found within the National Park, such as, grasslands,
shrub lands and forests. The terrain above 2000m is covered primarily by grasslands. The valleys are
extensively forested. Shrub lands predominate along the bases of the cliffs and interspersed in rocky
slab areas. Around 60% of the area is covered by grasslands, about 25% by shola forests, about 8.45%
by southern sub-tropical hill forest and 7.5% constitute the shrubs (Menon, 1997).
1.4.1 Forest types
Following forest types are recognized inside the Park
a. Shola forests (Southern montane wet temperate forest)
b. Grasslands (Southern montane wet temperate grass land)
c. Transition forests (Southern sub tropical broad leaved hill forest)
d. Evergreen forests (Southern west coast evergreen forest)
e. Shrub lands
f. Deciduous forests (Southern tropical moist deciduous forests)
1.4.2 Flora
The Park is floristically rich due to its characteristic climatic condition. 803 taxa (76 Peridophytes and
727 Angiosperms) were collected and described from the Park. They belong to 332 genera representing
134 families. Dicotyledons dominated with 505 species belonging to 240 genera and 90 families.
Monocotyledons were represented by 222 species under 92 genera and 16 families. 10 dominant
families with respect to species richness are Poaceae ( 105 species and 39 genera ), Orchidaceae (66
species and 23 genera), Asteraceae (48 species and 24 genera), Rubiaceae (43 species and 17 genera),
Balsaminaceae (39 species and 1 genus), Acanthaceae (31 species and 7 genera), Papilionaceae
(26 species and 12 genera), Lauraceae (32 species and 6 genera), Melastomataceae (18 species and
4 genera), Lamiceae (17 species and 7 genera). Fern groups here are endemic and comprises of 76
species under 35 genera and 28 families. Nearly 190 species are Western Ghat endemics, and 89Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
16 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
By Dileep Anthikad
among these are placed under various threat categories. During the study 36 species of Impatients
were collected in and around the park of which 18 are locally endemic and not seen anywhere in the
Western Ghats. They harbour 15 species of Arisaema which are confined to this area alone and two
barnesii, Begonia aliciae, Didymocarpus mcrostachya, Habenaria flabelliformis etc.
1.4.2.1 Shola forests: The hill forests are locally known as ‘sholas’, the Tamil term for forest.
The shoal forests in the upper plateau are dense and floristically rich with many endemic and rare
species. The trees in the sholas form a continuous canopy usually not exceeding 10-15m. There is no
marked differentiation into canopy layers. The tree bark is covered with lichens, orchids, mosses and
climbers. The crowns are generally rounded and dense. Common tree species in the shola forests are
Michaelia nilagirica, Elaeocarpus recurvatus, Microtropis ramiflora, Actinodaphne bourdellonii, and
Symplocos pendula.
The edges of the shola are marked by trees such as Rhododendron arboreumvar. nilagiricum,
Ternstroemia japonica, Ligustrum perrottettii, Turpinia cochinchinensis, Mahonia leshenaultii,
Rhodomyrtus tomentosa, Berberis tinctoria, Vaccinium neilgherrense etc. and herbs and shrubs includeBird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 17
Gaultheria fragrantissima, Moonia heterophylla, Jasminum bignoneacium, Smithia blanda, Valeriana
hookeriana and a few species of Strobilanthes. The undergrowth in the shola is represented by
Strobilanthes sp., Impatiens phoenicea, I. coelotropis, Psychotria congesta, Viola patrinii, V. serpens,
Asplenium sp., and Arundinaria densifolia. Epiphytic orchids in the sholas include Aerides ringens,
climbers are Piper schmidtii, Rubia cordifolia, and Connarus wightii. Rapanea capillata, Vaccinium
leschenaultii, Impatiens tangachee, Sonerila grandiflora, Osmunda regalis and Eurya japonica are
usually found along streams. Broad-leaved forests are found on the slopes descending from the
plateau. The dominant tree species found in the broad-leaved forests are Pittosporum tetraspermum,
Elaeocarpus munroii, Apollonias arnotti, Symplocos spicata, Gomphandra coriacea, Garcinia gummi-
gutta, Litsea coreacea, Prunus ceylanica and Photinia notoniana. Major shrubs include Begonia
subpeltata, Osbeckia lineolata, Polygala arillata, Strobilanthes homotropus, Maesa perrottetiana etc.
1.4.2.2 Grass lands: About 80% of the park is occupied by grasslands. They cover the plateau
and descending slopes. Three hundred and eight species are recorded from the grasslands out of
which 51 are endemic to the montane grasslands of the Western Ghats. The major grass species in
the grasslands are Andropogon lividus, Arundinella vaginata, Digitaria wallichiana and Arundinella
dominant grass species is found at Rajamala, down slopes of Anamudi and Poovar. Sehima nervosum
Other dominant grasses are Eulalia phaeothrix, Andropogon lividus, Arundinella purpurea, Agrostis
peninsularis, Ischaemum indicum, Heteropogon contortus and Tripogon bromodies. The common
herbs and shrubs in the grasslands include Anaphalis lawii, A. bourneii, A. meeboldii, Swertia
corymbosa, Polygala japonica, Curculigo orchioides, Micromeria biflora, Bupleurum distichophyllum,
Crotalaria fysonii, C. ovalifolia, Ranunculus reniformis, Hedyotis swertiodes, Senecio lavandulaefolius,
Phlebophyllum kunthianum, Hypericum mysorense, Pteridium aquilinum, Ageratina adenophora,
Gaultheria fragrantissima etc. The water logged areas are dominated by species such as Eriocaulon
robustum, E. collinum, and E. geofreyii. The summit of the Anaimudi is vegetated with patches of
stunted Arundinaria densifolia and Gaultheria fragrantissima (wintergreen), Anaphalis sp., Impatiens
and some species of Eniocaulon.
1.4.2.3 Shrub lands: The shrub lands in the park form a stable vegetative association occurring
on steep slopes below cliffs and interspersed among rock slabs. The dominant shrub present on the
bouldery slopes is Strobilanthus kunthianum, (Neelakurinji). This endemic species blooms once in
twelve years. Other species include Ageratina adenophora, Gaultheria fragrantissima, Hypericum
mysorense etc. Shrubby species predominate near tea estates and bouldery slopes.
1.4.2.4 Deciduous forests: A small portion on the eastern periphery of the Park lying close
to Talliar estate has deciduous forests with trees like rosewood, Pterocarpus etc. The undergrowth is
predominantly Lantana.
1.4.2.5 Tropical evergreen forests: On the western side of the Park where the hill forests
merge into the Anaimudi Reserve, a small segment of the Park exhibits characteristics of tropical
evergreen forests. The trees are tall and lofty with typical species like Mesua ferrea, Cullenia excelsa
and Palaquim ellipticum.Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
18 in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats
White-bellied Shortwing by Sandeep Das
1.5 Fauna
A total of 49 species of mammals, 33 species of reptiles, 22 species of amphibians and 101 species
of butterflies have been reported from Eravikulam NP.
1.5.1 Mammals
There are 49 species of mammals recorded from the Park, including the Nilgiri Tahr, Nilgiri Marten,
Clawless Otter, etc.
1.5.2 Reptiles
1.5.3 Amphibians
A total number of 22 species of amphibians are reported from the Park of which 17 are endemic to
Western Ghats.
1.5.4 Butterflies
A total number 101 species of butterflies have been identified in the Eravikulam National Park of
which 11 are endemic to Western Ghats.Bird Diversity of Protected Areas
in Munnar Hills, Western Ghats 19
2. PREVIOUS STUDIES
Compared to several other regions in Kerala Western Ghats, Munnar Hills have been reasonably well-
worked in terms of ornithology. However, detailed studies are still patchy. Apart from isolated notes
by ornithologists of British era, Dr. Salim Ali started his Travancore-Cochin Ornithology survey in 1933
from sites of Marayur, Munnar & Santhanpara. He spent four days around Munnar and recorded just 33
species (Ali & Whistler 1935) while in another few days in Santhanpara, he could record 93 species.
The same areas were covered after 75 years by the team headed by C Sashikumar in 2009 as a part
of the repeat survey (Sashikumar et al. 2011). Apart from creating a checklist, they also estimated
the density of birds using the same technique used in the present survey. Repeat survey also covered
several degraded habitats including tea plantations and water bodies and they recorded 111 species of
which some were water birds. The survey team recorded 95 species from Santhanpara of which one of
NP in 1997 and recorded 91 species in total - the team had base camps in Poovar, Eravikulam Hut,
Lakkamkudi, Rajamala and Anamudi (Uthaman 1999). Anamudi Shola NP (i.e. Mannavan shola) was
covered by P Radhakrishnan & P O Nameer as a part of the M.Sc. dissertation of the former – and later
also for doctoral studies of the latter (Nameer 2005). Methods employed were similar to the present
survey and 41 species were recorded from this site. Since 2000, parts of Munnar Hills and Rajamala
in Eravikulam NP has been the hotspot for bird tours and several interesting records have popped up
separate checklists for Eravikulam NP & Munnar Hills (Sashikumar et al 2011). The rarity sightings
include Imperial Eagle, Hen Harrier, Lesser Kestrel, Eurasian Woodcock, Eastern Grass Owl, Short-eared
Owl, Eurasian Crag-Martin, Grasshopper Warbler and Pied Thrush. However, several interior regions of
Eravikulam NP have been generally inaccessible for a regular bird tourist and are mostly covered only
by such detailed surveys. In general, most studies on the ecology of sky island habitats in South India
have been reviewed in detail by Robin & Nandini 2012.You can also read
