Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary (also known as ''Pakshi Kashi of Karnataka''), is a bird sanctuary in the

Mandya District Mandya district is an administrative district of Karnataka, India. The district Mandya was carved out of larger Mysore district in the year 1939. Mandya is the main town in Mandya district. As of 2011, the district population was 1,808,680 ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

in India. It is the largest bird sanctuary in the state, in area, and comprises six islets on the banks of the

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

river. The sanctuary has been designated on 15 February 2022 as a protected

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Ranganathittu is located from the historic town of

Srirangapattana Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the British ...

and north of

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. The sanctuary attracted about 3

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

visitors during 2016–17.

History

Islands Cauvery Ranganathittu Karnataka Feb24 R16 07728

Ranganathittu's islets were formed when an embankment across the Kaveri river was built between 1645 and 1648 by the then

king of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially t ...

Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar (5 June 1888 – 11 March 1940) was the heir apparent of the Kingdom of Mysore from 1895 until his death in 1940, during the reign of his brother, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. Krishnaraja Wadiyar died less ...

. These islets, originally numbering 25, soon started attracting birds. The

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

Salim Ali Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrot ...

observed that the islets formed an important nesting ground for a large variety of birds, and persuaded the king of Mysore to declare the area a protected area in 1940. The sanctuary is currently maintained by the Forest Department of Karnataka and efforts are ongoing to improve the sanctuary, including purchasing nearby private land to expand the protected area. In 2014, around 28 square km around the sanctuary was declared as an

eco-sensitive zone Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas in India notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries ...

, meaning that certain commercial activities cannot take place without the government's permission.

Flooding

The sanctuary with its islets experience heavy flooding during certain rainy seasons when water is released from

Krishna Raja Sagara Krishna Raja Sagara, also popularly known as KRS, is a lake and the dam that creates it. They are close to the settlement of Krishna Raja Sagara in the Indian State of Karnataka. The gravity dam made of ''surki'' mortar is below the confluence o ...

dam upstream, due to heavy rains. During heavy flooding boating is suspended and tourists are allowed to watch the nesting birds from a distance. Frequent flooding has also damaged some portions of three islands over past few decades.

Biome

Most of the park is within a

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

area.

Flora

Woods Info Ranganathittu Karnataka Jan24 A7C 09124

Riverine reed beds cover the banks of the islands, while the islands themselves are covered in

broadleaf forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

s, with dominant species being ''

Terminalia arjuna ''Terminalia arjuna'' is a tree of the genus '' Terminalia''. It is commonly known as arjuna or arjun tree in English. It is used as a traditional medicinal plant. Description ''T. arjuna'' grows to about 20–25 metres tall; usually has a buttr ...

'' (Arjun tree),

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

groves, and ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with about 578 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Common names include pandan, screw palm and screw pine. The genus is classified ...

'' trees.

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

and

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

trees have also been planted, which might lead to long-term eradication of native species. The

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

and threatened lily ''

Iphigenia mysorensis In Greek mythology, Iphigenia (; , ) was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae. In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting and killing one of Artemi ...

'' of the family

Colchicaceae Colchicaceae is a family of flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; ...

also grows in the sanctuary.

Fauna

Birds

Spot-billed Pelicans Nest Adults Chicks Ranganathittu Jan24 A7C 09189

Roughly 170 bird species have been recorded. Of these, the

painted stork The painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala'') is a large wader in the stork family. It is found in the wetlands of the plains of tropical Asia south of the Himalayas in the Indian Subcontinent and extending into Southeast Asia. Their distinctive ...

, Asian openbill stork,

common spoonbill The Eurasian spoonbill (''Platalea leucorodia''), or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, native to Europe, Africa and Asia. The species is partially migratory with the more northerly breeding pop ...

, woolly-necked stork,

black-headed ibis The black-headed ibis (''Threskiornis melanocephalus''), also known as the Oriental white ibis, Indian white ibis, and black-necked ibis, is a species of wading bird of the ibis family Threskiornithidae which breeds in the South and Southeast As ...

lesser whistling duck The lesser whistling duck (''Dendrocygna javanica''), also known as Indian whistling duck or lesser whistling teal, is a species of whistling duck that breeds in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They are nocturnal feeders that during ...

, Indian shag, stork-billed kingfisher,

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...

Oriental darter The Oriental darter (''Anhinga melanogaster'') is a water bird of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a long and slender neck with a straight, pointed bill and, like the cormorant, it hunts for fish while its body is submerged in water ...

spot-billed pelican The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...

and

heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...

breed at Ranganathittu regularly. The great stone plover, and

river tern The River Tern (also historically known as the Tearne) is a river in Shropshire, England. It rises north-east of Market Drayton in the north of the county. The source of the Tern is considered to be the lake in the grounds of Maer Hall, Staff ...

also nest there, while the park is also home to a large flock of streak-throated swallows. Ranganathittu is a popular nesting site and about 8,000 nestlings were sighted during June 2011. About 50 pelicans have made Ranganathittu their permanent home. During winter months, starting from mid-December, as many as 40,000 birds congregate at Ranganathittu, some migrating from

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and parts of

north India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

. During January and February, more than 30 species of migratory birds can be found in the sanctuary.

Mammals and reptiles

The islands are host to numerous small mammals including

bonnet macaque The bonnet macaque (''Macaca radiata''), also known as zati,Chambers English Dictionary is a species of macaque endemism, endemic to southern India. Its distribution is limited by the Indian Ocean on three sides and the Godavari River, Godavari a ...

, smooth coated otter, colonies of

flying fox ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Aust ...

and common small mammals such as common palm civet and

Indian gray mongoose The Indian grey mongoose or Asian grey mongoose (''Urva edwardsii'') is a mongoose species native to the Indian subcontinent and West Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The grey mongoose inhabits open forests, scrubland ...

. Additionally, there is a population of

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and West African Nile monitor, one species is also found in south America as an invasive species. A ...

s. The

mugger crocodile The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from south-eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marsh ...

or marsh crocodile is a common inhabitant of the riverine reed beds and Ranganathittu has largest fresh water crocodile population in Karnataka state.

Activities

Boats Pelicans Islands Kaveri Ranganathittu Jan24 A7C 09122

Ranger-guided boat tours of the isles are available throughout the day, and are a good way to watch birds, crocodiles, otters, and bats. There is no lodging within the sanctuary, so visitors typically stay over at

Mysuru Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

or Srirangapatna. The seasons for visiting the park are June–November (during the nesting season of the water birds). The best time to watch migratory birds is usually December but it can vary year to year. The Salim Ali Interpretation Centre, maintained by Forest Department, screens a 4- minute documentary to special interest groups.

Accessibility

*Nearest Town:

Srirangapatna Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the Britis ...

(3 km) *Nearest City:

(19 km) *Nearest Railhead: Srirangapatna *Nearest Airport:

Mysore Airport Mysore Airport , also known as Mandakalli Airport, is a domestic airport serving Mysore in Karnataka, India. It is located south of the city in the village of Mandakalli and is owned and operated by the Airports Authority of India. The Prince ...

(25 km) *Nearest Highway: Bangalore – Mysuru highway (2 km)

Gallery

File:Ranganthittu Bird Sanctuary (6099939566).jpg, Road entrance to the sanctuary File:Ceryle rudis -Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, Karnataka, India -pair-8-2c.jpg, Pied kingfishers File:Indian Grey Hornbill imported from iNaturalist photo 315053512 on 6 April 2024.jpg,

Indian Grey Hornbill The Indian gray hornbill (''Ocyceros birostris'') is a common hornbill found on the Indian subcontinent. It is mostly arboreal and is commonly sighted in pairs. It has grey feathers all over the body with a light grey or dull white belly. The hor ...

feeding on fig. File:Open billed Stork at the Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.jpg, Open-billed storks File:Painted Stork pair at Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.jpg, Meal partners,

s aiding each other File:Painted Stork imported from iNaturalist photo 283676771 on 6 April 2024.jpg, Painted Stork taking flight File:Painted Stork imported from iNaturalist photo 253260110 on 6 April 2024.jpg, Painted stork searching for food File:Egret pair at Ranganathittu Bird Sancutary.jpg,

Snowy egret The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, a ...

pair File:Stony Plover pair at Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.jpg, Pair of great stone-curlews File:White Ibis flock at Ranganathittu bird sanctuary.jpg, Troop of

white ibis White ibis may refer to several birds: * American white ibis, ''Eudocimus albus'' * Australian white ibis, ''Threskiornis molucca'' ** Solomons white ibis or Solomon Islands white ibis, ''Threskiornis (molucca) pygmaeus'' * Asiatic white ibis, an al ...

es File:Crocodile Gaping.jpg,

Crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

basking File:Migrated Bird.jpg,

Cattle egret The cattle egret (formerly genus ''Bubulcus'') is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan clade of heron (family (biology), family Ardeidae) in the genus ''Ardea (genus), Ardea'' found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. Ac ...

in breeding plumage File:River Tern Mating.jpg,

River Tern The River Tern (also historically known as the Tearne) is a river in Shropshire, England. It rises north-east of Market Drayton in the north of the county. The source of the Tern is considered to be the lake in the grounds of Maer Hall, Staff ...

s mating File:River Tern Chick.JPG, River Tern chick File:Pelican Ranganathittu.jpg,

Spot-billed pelican The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...

taking flight File:Spot-billed pelican, at Ranganathittu..jpg, Spot-billed pelican in flight File:Eurasian Spoonbill imported from iNaturalist photo 350848202 on 6 April 2024.jpg,

Eurasian Spoonbill The Eurasian spoonbill (''Platalea leucorodia''), or common spoonbill, is a wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae, native to Europe, Africa and Asia. The species is partially migratory with the more northerly breeding popu ...

File:Indian Paradise-Flycatcher imported from iNaturalist photo 253263609 on 6 April 2024.jpg, Indian Paradise-Flycatcher File:Indian Flying-fox imported from iNaturalist photo 208981300 on 6 April 2024.jpg, Flying foxes

References

External links

Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary- A Report
{{Ramsar sites in India Bird sanctuaries of Karnataka South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests Villages in Mandya district Srirangapatna Protected areas established in 1940 1940 establishments in India Ramsar sites in India