Pichavaram

Pichavaram hosts the second largest mangrove forests in the world
A view of the forest

Pichavaram is a village near Chidambaram in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India. [1][2] It is located between the Vellar estuary in the north and Coleroon estuary in the south. The Vellar-Coleroon estuarine complex forms the Killai backwater and the mangroves that are permanently rooted in a few feet of water.

Mangrove forests

Pichavaram consists of a number of islands interspersing a vast expanse of water covered with mangroves. The area is about 1100 hectare and is separated from the Bay of Bengal by a sand bar. The biotope consists of species like Avicennia and Rhizophora. It also supports the existence of rare varieties of economically important shell and finfishes.[3]

Fauna

The mangroves also attract migrant and local birds including snipes, cormorants, egrets, storks, herons, spoonbills and pelicans. About 177 species of birds belonging to 15 orders and 41 families have been recorded. High population of birds could be seen from November to January due to high availability of prey, coincidence of the time of arrival of true migrants from foreign countries and local migrants from their breeding grounds across India. The availability of different habitat types such as channels, creeks, gullies, mud flats and sand flats and adjacent sea shore offers ideal habitat for difference species of birds and animals.

References

  1. ↑ "UNESCO list".
  2. ↑ "Mangrove forests".
  3. ↑ "Mangrove".

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