Sisterhood of Sunday birders: How Coimbatore’s Women Wetland Watch documents the city’s waterbodies

Meet Coimbatore’s Women Wetland Watch that documents the birds, insects, and flora of the city’s waterbodies

As dusk falls on Valankulam, a sprightly group of birders prepares for its 25th bird watching expedition. There are teachers, a dentist, an HR professional: all of them women with a love for the outdoors. They are part of Women Wetland Watch, an initiative by city-based Siddharth Foundation, a non-profit organiation that focuses on biodiversity conservation. Armed with field glasses and mobile phones with the eBird app at the ready, they set out to count grebes, spot swamphens, and document spot-billed ducks at the wetland in the heart of the city.

The team meets for birding one Sunday every month at one of the city’s wetlands. Siddharth Foundation, says P Pramod, a scientist with SACON who is also one of its trustees, was started to connect people with Nature. “Women are a section of the population we want to focus on,” he says. “I feel that when we motivate women to do something, they motivate others too.” He explains that their focus is not on the technicalities of birding such as species identification. “It is more on mentally connecting people to Nature. Once that is done, the rest is taken care of,” says Pramod.

Around 10 to 30 women from all walks of life gather for their Sunday sessions, many of whom bring their children along. The programme has covered 11 wetlands in and around the city, with over 450 women participating since its inception in 2023 to document 146 bird species, apart from insects, butterflies, reptiles, amphibians, and wetland flora.

The Women Wetland Watch at Valankulam in the city | Photo Credit: Siva Saravanan S

While some members of Women Wetland Watch are part of other birding groups as well, they get many first-timers for their Sunday meets. Birding with an all-women team is no different from doing so with a group that has both genders. But Auxilia Helen, a school teacher for over 28 years, feels that a sense of sisterhood does find its way in to pep things up.

“You know how it is when like-minded women get together; there is a different kind of vibe; one that is fun, relaxed and warm. Our meet-ups have that spirit,” she adds. Auxilia got into birding when her son — who is now 24 and is into wildlife research and conservation — was in school. “I started birding because of his interest in Nature, and went on to organise sessions for my students,” she says. Subha Maheshwaran, another school teacher in the group, also got into birding because of her daughter. She is now a wildlife researcher and Subha is continuing the exercise.