A Village Protects A Flock, Round The Clock

It is late December and winter is at its peak in Kokkarebellur village, even as the mid-morning sun shines unusually bright. Declared a community reserve in 2017 under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, Kokkarebellur, or Kokrebellur, a small village with less than 1500 people in the Maddur district of Karnataka, 90 km southwest of Bengaluru, is well known for human-animal coexistence.

The name Kokkarebellur translates to “the hamlet of white storks” (kokkare meaning storks and bellur meaning white village). Every year, hundreds of spot-billed pelicans (Pelecanus philippensis) and painted storks (Mycteria leucocephala) fly into the village, painting the skies and trees shades of white. They pair up, build nests, lay eggs and raise their chicks.

“I have counted 90 nests; 180 birds have arrived. They will keep coming till February,” says forest watcher Lokesh P., squinting against the morning sun at a tamarind tree where some of the spot-billed pelicans are raucously roosting. Listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List, the global population of the bird is estimated to be less than 20,000, with the known breeding population of the species confined to a few countries including India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and potentially Thailand, as per a 2006 estimate. In the absence of any concerted effort to study the population or its distribution in recent times, the 2006 estimate provides hope that the Indian population, at 5000, is rising with increased protection.

Birds Of A Feather Face Changing Weather

Lokesh, whose days start with a visit to the roosting sites of the birds for headcounts, has a different story to tell. “Every year, the numbers are going down,” he says. A native of Kokkarebellur, who has been working with the Karnataka forest department as a forest watcher for 17 years, Lokesh has understood that the birds need stable weather in winter; a little rain or more shine will make them leave the nests and the eggs rot. He says 20 nests were abandoned by the pelicans early this season — typically from October to March — out of which 13 have been rebuilt. Winter is unusually warm this year and there were unseasonal rains in the beginning, Lokesh cites as reasons.

While there’s a prevailing notion that bird populations are declining, Aksheeta Mahapatra, a PhD scholar from the Wildlife Institute of India, who dedicated five years to studying resource partitioning among birds in the village, challenges this assumption. She emphasises the need for continuous surveys and data collection to substantiate such claims. “Without consistent data over several years indicating a decline,” she asserts, “it’s unreasonable to accept it.”

As per Mahapatra’s records, on an average, 500 spot-billed pelicans and 2000 painted storks visit Kokkarebellur annually. In 2023, 400 pelicans and 2000 storks flew into the village while 2022 saw 300 pelicans and 1500 storks.

Currently, there’s a dearth of information regarding these birds, including their migratory routes. Mahapatra’s research revealed intriguing insights: she tagged two rescued pelicans, an adult and a juvenile, in the previous year, discovering that both primarily remain within a 100-km radius of the village, contrary to the widely-held belief of extensive migration.

Other water birds such as the black-crowned night herons, little egrets and little cormorants too nest in Kokkarebellur, but in smaller numbers. Painted storks, also “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List, are the only species that nest alongside spot-billed pelicans here. “Pelicans are large birds; other smaller birds don’t nest on the nearby trees when they are around. Painted storks come a little later, when the weather is warmer and can withstand more heat than pelicans,” shares Lokesh.

Two months later, in February, Lokesh informs us over the phone that close to 1000 painted storks have arrived in Kokkarebellur.

Even though most trees where the birds roost are protected, no new trees are being planted, raising concerns that the birds may not favour the village in the future. Insufficient rainfall leads to a decrease in water flow from the KRS dam in the adjacent Mandya district to the village’s tanks, crucial for the piscivorous pelicans’ sustenance. Mahapatra’s research revealed the presence of 18 large water bodies within a 25 km radius of the village. The development around the village, including the new Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, hinders bird movements, according to Lokesh. “If there isn’t enough food and water, they go to nearby sanctuaries like Ranganathittu. They don’t come here,” he shares.

Villagers Are Not Winging It; Conservation Is Serious Business Here

As the season peaks, the birds can be seen nesting on the tamarind (Tamarindus indica), ficus (F. religiosa, F. bengalensis), babul (Acacia nilotica) and Indian tulip (Thespesia populnea) trees dotting the village. Smaller trees cannot support large birds and their nests. Chicks often drop from the nests, resulting in injuries that are sometimes fatal. The villagers’ legendary bond with the birds helps save some of them.

Shobha and her four-member family are constantly on guard for the roosting birds on the trees bordering their house. Despite the strong stench of bird droppings that ashen the trees and the ground, Shobha and her 13-year-old son Koushik are unfettered in their roles as bird rescuers. “My son is often watching the birds after he returns from school. If the chicks fall on the net (hung below the trees to minimise the impact of the fall), he picks them up and wants to nurse them back to health. We call Lokesh when that happens,” Shobha says.

Lokesh’s phone frequently buzzes with calls from vigilant villagers, updating him on accidents even if he has missed them during his patrols. The forest department operates a pen in the village to tend to fallen and injured birds. Lokesh nursed 30 pelicans and painted stork chicks back to health last year. “We release the ones that regain their strength and are capable of flight,” he explains.

Villagers believe their connection with birds is reciprocal and stretches back over a century. Legend has it that a plague in 1917 forced the villagers to abandon the banks of the Shimsha river and relocate to their current location. Astonishingly, the birds followed suit, despite the absence of water bodies nearby for easy access to food and water. Mahapatra, however, sees nothing unusual in this behaviour. Large water birds like pelicans often seek human habitation for security of their eggs and chicks against large avian predators like vultures and kites, she points out.

The villagers view the birds as akin to daughters, returning annually to their parental home to birth their brood. Therefore, caring for them is considered a parental duty, according to Lokesh. They also believe that the presence of the birds brings good fortune, while their absence foretells doom. Manu K., a Mysore-based naturalist who resided in the village to study the birds in the late 90s, believes there is an element of truth in it. He recalls a time when the state government undertook desilting of the water bodies around the village. As a result, pelicans and storks stayed away from the village due to lack of water in the lakes. This led to a drought and significant agricultural loss, culminating in a riot that reinstated the villagers’ faith in birds as their talisman.

How Farmers Used Bird Droppings To Grow Crops

Manu established the now defunct Hejjarle Balaga (Friends of the Pelican), a group of youths who instilled a sense of responsibility among villagers towards the safety of the birds and their young through rigorous rescues of fallen chicks. Hejjarle Balaga undertook rescues, established a nursery for the injured birds and took conservation lessons to local schools.

The only remaining active member B. Lingegowda set aside 2500 sq ft of his land to set up a nursery for the injured birds in 1994. He raises concerns about the loss of connection the present generation has for the birds. “The bird numbers have come down, primarily due to the loss of big trees. They still roost on the old trees, nobody has planted new trees,” he says.

Lokesh remembers that his father, a farmer, used the bird droppings as fertiliser. “All farmers used it and there was minimal dependence on store-bought chemical fertilisers, unlike now,” he says. This fertiliser, called guano, once considered white gold for its nutritive value, is made from fish-eating birds’ droppings and is rich in nitrogen and phosphorus. Kokkarebellur’s farmers dug a pit around the trees where pelicans and painted storks nest, filled the pits with silt from the lakes and let the droppings mix with the silt to create the fertiliser. The practice withered over a period of time primarily due to lack of labour, rise in labour charges and easy and cheap access to chemical fertilisers.

The involvement of the forest department in the conservation of trees and migratory birds in the village commenced nearly two decades ago. While villagers are no longer actively engaged in the rescue and rehabilitation of the birds, they cooperate with the department and step forward to assist in emergencies, such as the parasitic infection in 2017-2018  that led to the deaths of around 70 pelicans.

As an encouragement for local involvement in conservation efforts, the department compensates villagers who own large trees where the birds nest. A significant tamarind tree yields owners Rs. 3000 annually as they forego harvesting during the bird migration season. A ficus tree is compensated at Rs. 1500 due to its leaves serving as fodder for livestock. “Bird droppings on the leaves render them unpalatable, requiring farmers to obtain fodder from elsewhere during the season,” Lokesh explains. The owners of other trees, like the Indian tulip tree, receive a compensation of Rs. 750.

The department incentivises villagers by providing solar power connections to houses owning these trees and installing concrete benches in village squares for recreation. “We compensate 71 houses for the trees; we have given them solar power connections, too,” he adds. Additionally, the department is also considering incentives for families like Shobha’s, who do not own trees (and therefore are not eligible for compensation), but actively participate in conservation efforts.

Despite its status as a community reserve, tourism has not really picked up in the village though Manu recalls the department planning better roads and other infrastructure to attract tourists in the 90s. What remains now is an information centre in the heart of the village that takes one through various aspects of the birds and their lasting bond with the villagers.

As paradoxical as it may appear, Lokesh provides a compelling rationale for the seemingly improbable coexistence between humans and animals in his village, “These birds predominantly consume fish and pose no threat to crops. If they had inflicted economic harm on humans, their presence wouldn’t be tolerated for long.”

(Published under Creative Commons from Mongabay-India. Read the original article here)