Mudumalai a ‘raptor hotspot’ with 58 species recorded since 2011

Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is a hotspot for raptors in southern India, with 58 species recorded by experts.

The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris is being utilised by at least 58 species of birds of prey, making it one of the hotspots for raptors in southern India, say experts.

A study undertaken between 2011 and 2022 within the tiger reserve have revealed the presence of 58 species of raptors belonging to five families under three orders. Out of the 58 species of raptors, 31 were breeding residents while 27 were winter visitors, experts observed. Their findings were published recently in the Nepalese Journal of Zoology, titled “Raptors in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India.”

Out of the 58 species of raptors recorded within the tiger reserve, researchers Samson Arockianathan, J. Leona Princy, J. Beulahbah, Jeyasubashini Regupathikannan, Phillmon Smart Edward and N. Moinudheen, noted that 16 have “high global conservation significance,” with three species that are critically endangered, two that are “endangered”, four species that “vulnerable” and six that are “near threatened”, as classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Among the notable observations made by the researchers within the reserve during the study period were observations of species such as Black Baza (Aviceda leuphotes) , Eurasian griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), Himalayan vulture (Gyps himalayensis), Legge’s hawk eagle (Nisateus kelaarti), Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygarus), and the Amur falcon (Falco amurensis).

Researchers noted that the records of seven species of vultures, three of which were resident to the landscape, also proved how important protection of the landscape was to vulture populations in India.

Dr. Arockianathan, from the Bombay Natural History Society and one of the authors of the paper, said that since Mudumalai was located at the intersection of the Eastern and Western Ghats, the biodiversity of avian fauna was extremely high. “It also hosts a wide array of forest cover, from arid scrub jungles, to deciduous and semi evergreen forests, which provide habitats for a wide number of resident as well as migratory species,” he said.

The researchers hoped that the baseline information provided by their study would be used for further ecological assessments and comparative research that will eventually result in better understanding of the species of raptors that utilise and inhabit the region.