The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, covering an area of barely 25 km², and located about 60 km north-east of Kochi (Kerala state, India), was the first bird sanctuary in Kerala. Salim Ali, one of the best known ornithologist described this sanctuary as the richest bird habitat on peninsular India. Thattekkad literally means flat forest, and the region is an evergreen low-land forest located between the branches of Periyar River, the longest river in Kerala.
The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary has a rich and varied birdlife. Several species of birds, both forest birds as well as the water birds, visit the sanctuaries, and the important ones include the following:
The Indian Pitta, which visits the sanctuary during winter and spends almost six months here.
- Ground Thrush, an orange-headed bird
- Large-billed Leaf-warbler
- Jerdon's Nightjar
- Indian Cuckoo
- Darters
- Cormorants
- Whiskered Terns
- Collared Scops Owl
- Frogmouths, which are nocturnal birds
- Pompadour Green Pigeon
- Yellow-browed Bulbuls
The sanctuary is a habitat for different varieties of cuckoos and a region of the sanctuary popularly called "Cuckoo Paradise" is home to them, among which are the:
- Drongo Cuckoo, which may be easily mistaken for Drongo,
- Indian Hawk Cuckoo, which is highly vocal, and the
- Large Hawk Cuckoo, which looks relatively massive compared to other types of cuckoos, and is characterized by a dark grey and heavily streaked throat.
The Edamalayar forest is located about 15 km from Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary. This is also an evergreen forest located above the Edamalayar River. The Mountain Hawk Eagles are found in this forest. Other birds in this forest include Dark-fronted Babbler, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Brown-backed and White-rumped Needletails, and Emerald Green Pigeons.
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