The Karaivetti bird Sanctuary is located in the Karaivetti Village of Ariyalur District in Tamil Nadu.
History
The area of the Karaivetti has the largest freshwater lake in TamilNadu. On 5th April 1999, this Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary was initiated which has the worldwide name Karaivetti Wildlife Sanctuary. This Sanctuary was open to the public from the year 2015. This Bird Sanctuary alone covers an area of 454 hectares.
Special things
Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary is one among the Important Bird Areas(IBA’s) in Tamil Nadu, which contains a total of 188 bird species. The average temperature in this site is 33ºC in Summer and 14ºC in Winter. In the peak season, nearly 50000 birds visit this Sanctuary. Then the irrigation tank in this site, gets water from the Mettur Dam as a result of North east monsoons. From the month of June to August, this water tank remains dry.
Important birds
There are nearly 100 species of land birds that visit this Sanctuary, which includes the Peregrine Falcon, Rosy Pastor, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Tawny eagle etc. The Karaivetti is the freshwater lake, gets water through the Kattalal and Pullambadi canal from the river Kaveri.
Here the 16 species of Ducks and 23 species of Waders come to this Sanctuary. The White stork, White necked Stork, Grey Pelician, Ibis, and the barheaded Goose are the other main water birds that visit this Sanctuary.
This site is famous for the active heronries in Tamil Nadu. The visitors can see the heronries like the Black-headed ibis, Spot-billed Pelican, Oriental darter, Painted Stork and Eurasian Spoonbill. In this Sanctuary, the maximum number of migratory birds are seen in January. More than 2.5 lakhs of birds come to this Sanctuary.
Transport facilities
This Bird Sanctuary is at a distance of 50Km from Trichy, 35 Km from Thanjavur and 12Km from Ariyalur. The visitors who come through the road transport can reach Ariyalur , Trichy or Thanjavur. From Ariyalur, they can opt the road vehicle to reach this site. Similarly for the visitors, who come through the train, must reach the Ariyalur Railway station. The visitors who travel through the flight can reach Trichy Airport. From there can take travel by road to reach this site.
Entrance Fees
There is no entrance fee to visit this Bird Sanctuary.
Accommodation
The visitors can stay in the Tamil Nadu Guest House or the Private hotels in Thanjavur.
Location: Thirumanur Taluk, Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu.
Opening Days: Open throughout the year
Best time to visit: December to January
April (since the arrival of more number of birds)
Total Area – The total area covered by Karaivetti Bird Sanctuary is 4.537Km2.