Birds & Butterflies Survey– Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary
Detailed Observation- Butterflies
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Nymphalidae: Half of the target species, 50 out of 96 are recorded from this family, which is most dominant among other
species. Beaks, Tigers, Crows, Bushbrowns, Treebrowns and Evening browns, Rings, Pansies, Sailers are all well represent-
ed. Nilgiri Tigers, Palni Fritillaries were the dominant in the higher elevation while the other species were fairly commonly
seen in the other elevations. Rarities and good sighting include Nilgiri Tiger, Red-disc Bushbrown (another dominant spe-
cies), Blackvein Sergeant, Clipper, Redspot Duke, Common Map, Black Prince, Indian Red Admiral and Blue Admiral.
• Lycaenidae: Although Blues were
the second dominant family after
Nymphalidae, the species count was
low at 31 against the target of 91
species. The Grass Blues were seen in
good numbers in the lower as well as
in higher (to a lesser degree). Only
the commonly seen Lineblues- Com-
mon and Tailless were seen, with
Nacaduba missing from the sighting.
Hedge Blues- especially White and
White-disc were commonly seen in
the higher elevation while Common
in the other elevation. Three types of
Pierrots were seen, surprisingly no
Common Pierrot. Good and rare
sightings include Redspot, Yamfly,
Leafblue, Monkey Puzzle and Com-
mon Tinsel.
• Riodinidae: There are 2 species in this family- Plum Judy and Double-banded Judy and they are not sighted during the
survey period.
• Hesperiidae: Because of their nature, usually active in the early morning and evenings, these are difficult to sight usually.
During the survey, only 22 of 83 species were sighted. Dingy Scrub Hopper was abundant everywhere on the higher eleva-
tion, literally. Flats and Awls were reasonably represented, so too some of the swifts and darts. Important sightings in-
clude Orange-striped Awlet and Indian Awlking.
Brief Observation- Birds
•
•
•
On an overall count, 122 species of birds from all families were recorded during the survey comprising all ranges, habita-
tion and elevation
This number, although appears to be on a slightly lower side can be taken as a good base, since the hills are without much
rain and short of flowering/ fruiting plants for the season and there may be some local movement downhills/plains or
elsewhere. Also, considering the cloudy and rainy days of survey days, certain species will take cover and will not venture
out easily like Raptors.
Good number of common species and count is observed from low to medium elevation ranges, while certain rarities
showed up on the mid-elevation and the higher elevation returned specialities of their range. A few groups of birds were
however seen missing in total or in numbers in various locations due to dried waterbodies.