A group of birders, who visited Kurichi tank in Coimbatore on Sunday had a rare visitor who made their day memorable. They spotted a Red-necked phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus), a shore bird that breeds in the Arctic region, that possibly made a halt during its flight to a coastal destination.
R. Karthikeyan, a biologist attached to non-governmental organisation Arulagam, identified the rare visitor when he took a group of 17 persons to the urban water body for a birding trip organised by the Coimbatore City Bird Atlas (CCBA), a citizen science bird monitoring project.
“This Red-necked phalarope stood out from other birds we saw in the tank. While others, including sandpipers, were foraging on the shoreline, this loner was seen in the water, with its typical feeding behaviour,” said Mr. Karthikeyan.
