Fledgling birding group in Chennai spreads wings to study habitats and conduct bird censuses

On the morning of December 7, Birders Tribe (@birderstribe) had not bargained for a psychology lecture. They had traded a Sunday lie-in for a bird count at the Pallikaranai marsh. While their ears were perked up for chirps, they also heard the hoofs of an unexpected visitor. Not this writer, who was expected to show up that morning at the Marsh and meet with the fledgling birders group. The guest who had arrived unbidden was Kurt Lewis. There was an illustration, an unmistakable exposition of approach-avoidance conflict. The man associated with this theory, Kurt Lewis had come back from the dead, dodging the fast-moving traffic on the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam 200-feet Radial Road and settled down for a concise lecture about it by the side of the road. Greater Chennai Corporation’s massive Perungudi dumping yard reared up on the other side of the road. 

Rosy starlings at Pallikaranai Marsh on December 7, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK

The birders were repelled by what had drawn them, approach-avoidance theory kicking in for them. Rosy starlings had gathered in sizeable numbers. There were dozens and dozens of them, perched on a small dead thistle-tree and skipping about in the land right under it. The tree and the land were outside the dumping site. The species and its numbers would look good on the census sheets. It was Birders Tribe’s first wetland survey. It was also a great opportunity for clicks, a binocular and a camera in these times being as inseparable as word pairs. 

Rosy starlings by the side of Pallavaram Thoraipakkam 200-feet Radial Road, in front of the Perungudi dumping ground on December 7, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK

At the same time, the fact that the piece of earth, essentially the roadside space, was sullied by garbage, bringing the stench of the Perungudi Dump closer to the nostrils, rankled. Mounds of earth are heaped up from deepening and dredging the earthen canal by the side of the road to facilitate free flow of water. Pieces of trash stick to these mounds like confetti to the coiffures of invitees to a birthday party. 

An extended gaze

Members of Birders Tribe revealed they did not stop at looking at birds, but extended the gaze to the state of the habitats that support them. They want to function as an advocacy group. There is a series of surveys being lined up.

One of the two founders of Birders Tribe, Vignesh V — the other founder is Rajeev Vishwakarma — elaborates: “A survey of five lakes — Vandalur, Potheri, Nanmangalam, Chitlapakkam and Perumbakkam lakes — is in the offing, having been scheduled for December 27 (nocturnal survey) and December 28 (diurnal morning survey). It is being carried out with the Forest Department’s support. Before that, on December 21, an awareness walk is being organised at the Porur wetland park for the families of members, with the special focus on educating the children.” Additionally, a window has been reserved for the survey of what is called Sholinganallur marshland, which essentially is a spit of land organically related to the Pallikarani Marsh. Vignesh notes that this planned survey just hovers over the calendar and is yet to land on a definite date. 

Garbage found by the side of Pallavaram Thoraipakkam 200-feet Radial Road, right outside the section of Pallikaranai Marsh where the Perungudi dumping ground is located.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK

Wrapping this up, Birders Tribe is a young group, and in birding terms, just “one winter old”, as Vignesh says it will be celebrating its first anniversary in January 2026. It shows promise in terms of citizen science and advocacy, if you factor in the care it takes with its surveys. 

It has drawn up a December 7 trip report, a collation of six eBird lists by members. This data collated by two members, K Sujatha and Saptarshi Chatterjee, is up on eBird — https://ebird.org/tripreport/439989