India GOBirds of Mysore
Painted stork
Ranganathittu's islets were formed by a dam built across the Kaveri in the 1640s; the ornithologist Salim Ali persuaded the Mysore ruler to protect them, and the sanctuary was declared in 1940.
Mycteria leucocephala
Spot-billed pelican
In several Karnataka and Andhra villages pelican and stork colonies nest inside the village on protected trees and are looked after by residents: a South Indian tradition of village heronries that predates any wildlife law.
Pelecanus philippensis
River Tern
Its fortunes track river management directly: sand mining and released dam water flood the same rock islands the terns need, which is why river terns have become a marker species for the health of peninsular rivers.
Sterna aurantia
Oriental darter (snakebird)
Darters breed inside Mysore itself: Kukkarahalli, a tank built in 1864 for the city's water supply, holds a colony on an island left when a half-built bund washed away, and Karanji Lake has another.
Anhinga melanogaster
Great thick-knee
Ranganathittu's islets formed after the Mysore king Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar built an embankment across the Kaveri in 1645–1648, and the great thick-knee is one of the birds that nest on them.
Esacus recurvirostris
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