South India Tourism » Gudavi Bird Sanctuary

Location: Shimoga district,Kamataka
Area: 73.68 ha
Altitude: c.400 m

Description of site: Gudavi, a traditional nesting habitat for a number of colonial waterbirds, appears to have been in existence for well over a century. The sanctuary is a medium-sized tank with a raised bond, bordered on its eastern and Southwestern sides by open, moist, deciduous forest. The waterspread area itself has been demarcated into a smaller southern, and a much larger northern, sector by raised bunds. The smaller sector comprises heronries where 12 species of waterbird breed from July to November.

The northern sector is used by a variety of resident and migratory waterbirds. On its northern side, the sanctuary has agricultural fields. The water from the tank is used for irrigating rice-fields on the eastern side of the Varada river which flows 0.5 km from the sanctuary. The tank gets impounded during the monsoon, and becomes shallow and dry during summer. The average depth of water in the heronry is 1.5 m, and the maximum depth is about 2 m. The soil in the sanctuary area is mainly lateritic

Climatic conditions: Tropical monsoon climate with an average rainfall of 1877 mm. The area is influenced by the northwest monsoon from June to September. April is the hottest month, with the daily mean temperature varying from 22° C to 32° C. In December, the maximum temperature is 23°C and the minimum 15°C. The relative humidity throughout the year generally exceeds 75 %. During the monsoon, the relative humidity is over 80 %. The driest part of the year is January to March when the relative humidity in the afternoon is less than 40 % Principal vegetation: Moist, evergreen deciduous forest around the tank. The tank itself has floating lillies and azolla among other water plants; and tree species on the periphery are dominated by Terminalia tomentosa, Terminalia arjuna, Syzygium operculata, bamboo, acacia, Casuarina, etc

Fauna: A very important area for both resident and migratory waterfowl. The 1991 and 1992 waterfowl censuses recorded the following species: Tachybaptus ruficollis (22), Anhinga melanogaster (5), Ardeola grayii (12), Bubulcus ibis (18), Egretta garzetta (8), E.intermedia (4), Ardeola purpurea (2), Sarkidiornis melanotos (8), Nettapus coromandelianus (35), Anas strepera (6), A.crecca (28), A.poecilorhyncha (115), A.acuta (109), Amaurornis phoenicurus (8), Gallicrex cinerea (6),Gallinula chloropus (16), Fulica atra (321), Hydrophasianus chirurgis (35), Metopidius indicus (25), Himantopus himantopus (4),Vanellus indicus (6),Totanus glareola (6), Actitis hypoleucos (8), Gallinago gallinago (8), Calidris minuta (6), Alauda gulgula (25), and Merops orientalis (10)

Special floral values: Trees in the area serve as good nesting sites for waterfowl. Floating plants and weeds are also used for nesting. The species Terminalia arjuna is becoming scarce in the Western Ghats. Azolla and other floating species of the tank are ideal biomass for the production of biogas and compost

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