Asian pied starling adds one more waterbody to its Chennai address list

Like a hernia, Perumbakkam lake pushes through an expanse of land and shows up on Medavakkam-Mambakkam Main Road.

Through the grilled compound that serves as boundary between the road and the lake, a brown tree can be seen. Drained of its sap and lifeless, it supports life, in fact ushers in new life. On this tree, two pairs of “settlers” are raising their young. Asian pied starling pairs have built nests with trademark features — composed of dry grass and twigs, the nests are big and almost rounded. The nervous excitement with which the adult pied starlings enter the nests indicates the presence of chicks, not eggs. During a couple of visits after the rains, one nest appeared abandoned. The other is active, as the image from June 21, 2024 illustrates.

By registering its presence near this waterbody, the Asian pied starling is adding one more page to its expansion story. Ever since it started treating Chennai and its surroundings as home, the species has been adding waterbodies and wetlands and even temporary swamps in the region as its addresses.

Tracing the circle of life

In 2018, at what was called Ram Nagar swamps in Madipakkam, birder A.M. Aravind sighted the Asian pied starling. A feature of his morning walks, these birds would illustrate to him that they were as much of a resident of Madipakkam as he was. Aravind would witness a pair build nests and raise their young at the Ram Nagar swamps. “Eviction” of the pied starlings from the Ram Nagar swamps — with construction activity, the swamps disappeared — only opened up the city for them.

Subsequently, there were sightings of the Asian pied starling in Pallikaranai, as first recorded by birder and Pallikaranai resident Sundaravel Palanivel.

“The pair at the Ram Nagar swamps relocated to the Pallikaranai marsh,” says Aravind. There were other pairs that were sighted around the Marsh.

Other notable places of pied-startling sighting include Korratur lake (reported by K.V.R.K Thirunaranan and his team from The Nature Trust) and Nanmangallam lake (reported by birders in the region particularly Jithesh Babu).

“Even in Karapakkam, there had been sightings of the Asian pied starling but without nesting activity,” remarks Aravind.

Unlike the common myna, the Asian pied starling is selective about where it would nest, usually around a waterbody. And the common myna is a hole-nesting species, making it even more dissimilar to the Asian pied starling in terms of nesting philosophy.