Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary

Udayamarthandapuram is one of the important Birds Sanctuaries in Tamil Nadu. It is under the administrative jurisdiction of Thiruthuraipoondi taluk, Muthupet Block of Tiruvarur district. Created in 1998 in Tiruvarur District. It is near the confluence of Baminiyar-Kannanaar Rivers, covering 43.767 ha. The sanctuary is a seasonal wetland fed by small canals receiving water from Mettur Dam through the Koraiyar canal. As the Sanctuary is an inland wetland, it does not show the presence of structures like beach/shoreline/sand dune/ mud flats, etc. It has been declared as Protected Area in 1998. Fresh alluvium soil is deposited every year by irrigation water received from Mettur dam. The wetland plays the primary role of buffering by acting as a sponge during events of floods and extreme rainfall, & is a major source of ground water recharge. There is significant runoff from surrounding catchment area and the wetland acts as a sink for sediments. Udhayamarthandapuram Bird Sanctuary has a diverse habitat including large and deep reservoirs with a number of inlets and surrounding irrigated agricultural fields.

Salient Features

• Trees in the site acts as roosting and nesting site
• Bird excreta called “guano” enriches the water which when used for irrigation of the agricultural land surrounding the statuary results in high crop yield
• This site is a part of important migratory bird flyway (central asia flyway)

CRITERIA

Criterion 2 : supports endangered species like oriental darter (nt), black-headed ibis (nt) and spot billed pelican (nt).
Criterion 3 : supports plants (93),birds (104), reptiles (22), amphibians (7), odanates (10), butterfly (56), fishes (15) and mammals (12) for maintains the biological diversity of the bio geographic region
Criterion 4 : this site has diverse habitats including large trees whuch acts as nesting site for oriental darter (nt) and black-headed ibis (nt).
Criterion 5 : supports more than 20,000 water birds which includes both resident and migratory birds such as ibises, egrets, herons, storks, pelican, ducks, cormorants, small waders and other water birds.

RAMSAR Certificate