MEENAKSHI COLLEGE

FOR WOMEN

(AUTONOMOUS)
KODAMBAKKAM, CHENNAI-600024
UNDER THE GUIDENCE OF
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS (DAY)
2020-21
PROJECT ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
VISIT TO GUINDY NATIONAL PARK

Submitted by

NAME :
REGISTER NO. :
UNIVERSITY REGISTER NO. :
CLASS :
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am extremely thankful to Dr. K. S. Lakshmi M. Sc., M. Phil., Ph.

D., secretary, Meenakshi College for women (Autonomous), for
giving me the opportunity to do this project.

I thank Mrs. S. Indira, M. Sc., M. Phil., associate professor and

Mrs. S. Bharathi, assistant professor of our department for the
guidance and support in completing this project.
I am also thankful to the head of the department and other faculty
members of the department for this encouragement in this project
work.

I am also very thankful to the Guindy National Park Authorities for

providing us with valuable information by demonstrating about the
various species.
 DECLARATION

I
hereby declare that this project work entitled
“GUINDY NATIONAL PARK” which is
submitted by me for the award of Bachelor’s
degree of science in mathematics has not formed
the basis for any other degree, associate ship
fellowship or other similar title and this project is
done by me under the guidance of the staff of the
department of mathematics, Meenakshi College
for Women, Chennai – 600024.

SIGNATURE OF EXTERNAL SIGNATURE OF INTERNAL

EXAMINER EXAMINER

SIGNATURE OF THE STUDENT

 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that

, B.Sc. Mathematics had gone to field trip
for environmental studies on 17th March
2021. This project work done in the area of
environmental studies is based on her visit to
the Guindy National park, Chennai -
600116.

Signature
(Head of the department)
 FIELD WORK

We the students of I B.Sc. Mathematics visited

Guindy National Park on 17th March 2021 to
study about wild life conservation and to visit the
reserve forest there, as a part of field work for the
paper Environmental studies. We gathered
information required for the field work and it was
a learning experience. Our team glued together and
worked in union to bring out this project.
 CONTENTS

TOPIC Page No.

INTRODUCTION 7
ENVIRONMENT 8
NATURAL RESOURCES 9
GUINDY NATIONAL PARK 11
FLORA AND FAUNA 12
SPECIES OF BIRDS 14
OBSERVATION 39
CONCLUSION 45
 INTRODUCTION

The study of nature, natural resources, the

inter-relationship with man, human activities,
disturbances to the environment and the attempts
to improve the environment is called Environment
studies. Environmental education is “the process
of sensitizing individuals and the public about the
environmental crisis, recognizing the
environmental values and clarifying concepts”. It
is a multi-disciplinary subject involving
geography, physics, chemistry, economics,
politics, law and management.

Environment studies deals with every issue

that affects an organism. It is essentially multi-
disciplinary approach that brings about an
appreciation of natural work and human impacts
on its integrity. It is an applied science as it seeks
practical answers to making human
civilization sustainable on the earth’s finite
resource.
 ENVIRONMENT
The surrounding in which organisms lives,
is known as environment. It includes biotic and
abiotic factors that potentially influence an
organism. An organism embracing all the
conditions in which an organism lives, for
example, light, temperature, light, etc., act a
regulatory factor.
These entire components are interlinked and
interdependent. Environment must be favourable
for the existence and in relation to man.

 Environment represents the physical

components of the earth wherein man is the
important factor influencing the environment
where he lives.

 Environment is the sum total of all social,

economic, biological, physical or chemical
factors which constitute the surroundings of
man, who is both creator and molder of this
environment.
 NATURAL RESOURCES

Natural resources are useful raw

materials that we get from the earth. They
occur naturally, which means that humans
cannot make natural resources. Instead, we
use and modify natural resources in ways that
are beneficial to us. The materials used in
human-made objects are natural resources.

BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC NATURAL

RESOURCES
There are several ways to classify natural
resources, including where they come from
and if they are renewable or not. If natural
resources come from living things or organic
materials, then they are considered biotic
resources. Biotic resources include plants,
animals and fossil fuels. The three fossil fuels
are coal, oil and natural gas. Fossil fuels are
classified as biotic resources because they
were formed from the decay of organic matter
over millions of years.

On the other hand, abiotic resources

originate from non-living and inorganic
materials. For example, air, sunlight and
water are abiotic natural resources. Minerals
(gold, copper, iron, and diamonds) are also
considered abiotic
 GUINDY NATIONAL PARK

Guindy National Park is a

2.70 km2 (1.04 sq mi) protected area of Tamil Nadu,
located in Chennai, India, is the 8th-smallest National
Park of India and one of the very few national parks
situated inside a city. The park is an extension of the
grounds surrounding Raj Bhavan, formerly known as
the 'Guindy Lodge', the official residence of
the Governor of Tamil Nadu, India. It extends deep
inside the governor's estate, enclosing beautiful forests,
scrub lands, lakes and streams.
The park has a role in both ex-situ and in-
situ conservation and is home to 400 blackbucks,
2,000 spotted deers, 24 jackals, a wide variety
of snakes, geckos, tortoises and over 130 species of
birds, 14 species of mammals, over 60 species
of butterflies and spiders each, a wealth of different
invertebrates—grasshoppers, ants, termites, crabs, snail
s, slugs, scorpions, mites, earthworms, millipedes, and
the like. These are free-ranging fauna and live with the
minimal of interference from human beings. The only
major management activity is protection as in any other
in-situ conservation area. The park attracts more than
700,000 visitors every year.
FLORA
The park has a dry evergreen scrub and thorn forest,
grasslands and water bodies with over 350 species of
plants including shrubs, climbers, herbs and grasses and
over 24 variety of trees, including the sugar-
apple, Atlantia monophylla, wood-apple, and neem.
This flora provides an ideal habitat for over 150 species
of birds. About one-sixth of the park has been left as
open grassland to preserve that habitat for blackbucks.
Though both the species of blackbuck and spotted deer
have their natural habitat in grassland, the spotted deer
prefer bushes and can adjust in land covered with
shrubbery.

FAUNA

There are over 14 species of mammals including

blackbuck, chital or spotted deer, jackal, small Indian
civet, common palm civet, bonnet
macaque, hyena, pangolin, hedgehog,
common mongoose and three-striped palm squirrel. The
park also has black-naped hare and several species of
bats and rodents.
The park has over 150 species of birds including grey
partridge, crow pheasant, parrot, quail, paradise
flycatcher, black-winged kite, honey buzzard, pariah
kite, golden-backed woodpecker, yellow-wattled
lapwing, red-wattled lapwing, blue-faced
malkoha, shrikes, Asian
koel, minivets, munias, parakeet, tailor
bird, robin, drongo, and stone curlew. Bird watchers
anticipate migratory birds here
like teals, garganeys, pochards, medium egrets, large
egrets, night herons, pond herons and open-billed
storks every fall season.

The park is home to about 9 species of

amphibians. There are also many kinds of reptiles,
including saw-scaled viper and the fan-throated lizard.
Some species of tortoise and turtles—especially the
endangered star
tortoise, lizards, geckos, chameleons and the
common Indian monitor lizard—are found here, as well
as a large variety of insects including 60 species of
spiders and 60 species of butterflies.
 SPECIES OF BIRDS
BLACK – RUMPED FLAME BACK

The black-rumped flameback (Dinopium
benghalense), also known as the lesser golden-
backed woodpecker or lesser goldenback, is
a woodpecker found widely distributed in
the Indian subcontinent.[2] It is one of the few
woodpeckers that are seen in urban areas. It has a
characteristic rattling-whinnying call and an
undulating flight.
BIONOMIAL NAME: DINOPIUM BENGHALENSE
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
KINGDOM: ANIMALIA
PHYLUM: CHORDATA
CLASS: AVES
ORDER: PICIFORMES
FAMILY: PICIDAE
GENUS: DINOPIUM
SPECIES: D. benghalense
A common, “small – billed”
golden – backed woodpecker
with four toes. Associated with
every lowland wooded habitat
except dense tropical forest, it
often follows degradation into
higher elevations. Separated
from all other flame backs except
Red-backed by dark throat, lack
of a construction black horizontal
stripe below the cheek, and four toes.
Separated from Red-backed by golden back and black
shoulder. Often detected by its loud “ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki”,
which steadily increase in pace and ends in a trill .It is
one of the few woodpeckers that are seen in Urban
areas. It has a characteristic rattling whinnying call and
an undulating fights.
DESCRIPTION
The black- rumped flameback is a large species at 26-
29 cm in length. It has a typical woodpecker shape, and
the golden yellow wing coverts
are distinctive. The rump is
black are not red as in the
GREATER FLAMEBACK. The
underparts are white with dark
chevron markings. The black
throat finely marked with white
immediately separated it from
other golden backed
woodpeckers in the Indian
region .The head is whitish with
a black nape and throat, and
there is a greyish eye patch.
Unlike the greater flameback it has no dark moustachial
stripes.
The BLACK – RUMPED FLAMEBACK is the only
GOLDEN – BACKED WOODPECKER with both a
black throat and a black rump.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
The Black-rumped flameback is
found mainly on the plains going
up to an elevation of about 1200m
in Pakistan, India south of the
Himalayas and east till the western
Assam valley and Meghalaya,
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It is
associated with open forest and
cultivation. They are often seen in urban areas with
wooded avenues. 
BREEDING
The breeding season varies with weather and is between
February and July. They frequently drum during the
breeding season. The next
hole is usually excavated by
the birds and has a
horizontal entrance and
descends into a cavity.
Sometimes birds may usurp
the next have also been
noted in mud embankments.
The eggs are laid inside the
unlined cavity. The normal clutch is three and the eggs
are elongate and glossy white. The eggs hatch after
about 11 days of incubation, the chicks leave the next
after about 20 days.

INDIAN PARADISE FLYCATCHER

The Indian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone

paradisi) is a medium-sized passerine bird native to
Asia, where it is widely distributed. As the global
population is considered stable, it has been listed
as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004. It is
native to the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and
Myanmar.
Males have elongated central tail feathers, and a black
and rufous plumage in some populations, while others
have white plumage. Females are short-tailed with
rufous wings and a black head. Indian paradise
flycatchers feed on insects, which they capture in the air
often below a densely canopied tree.
BIONOMIAL NAME: TERPSIPHONE PARADISI
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
KINGDOM: ANIMALIA
PHYLUM: CHORDATA
CLASS: AVES
ORDER: PASSERIFORMES
FAMILY: MONARCHIDAE
GENUS: TERSIPHONE
SPECIES: T. paradisi

DESCRIPTION
Adult Indian paradise
flycatchers are 19–22 cm
(7.5–8.7 in) long. Their
heads are glossy black
with a black crown and
crest, their black bill
round and sturdy, their
eyes black. Female are
rufous on the back with a
greyish throat and
underparts. Their wings
are 86–92 mm (3.4–3.6 in) long. Young males look
very much like females but have a black throat and
blue-ringed eyes. As adults they develop up to 24 cm
(9.4 in) long tail feathers with two central tail feathers
growing up to 30 cm (12 in) long drooping streamers.
Young males are rufous and have short tails. They
acquire long tails in their second or third year. Adult
males are either predominantly bright rufous above or
predominantly white. Some specimens show some
degree of intermediacy between rufous and white.
Long-tailed rufous birds are generally devoid of shaft
streaks on the wing and tail feathers, while in white
birds the shaft streaks, and sometimes the edges of the
wing and tail feathers are black.

DISTRIBUTION AND
HABITAT
The Indian paradise
flycatcher is a migratory
bird and spends the
winter season
in tropical Asia. In
southern India and Sri
Lanka, both locally
breeding populations and visiting migrants occur in
winter.
Indian paradise flycatchers inhabit thick forests and
well-wooded habitats from Central Asia to south-
eastern China, Nepal, all over India and Sri Lanka to
Myanmar.

BEHAVIOUR
The Indian paradise
flycatcher is a noisy
bird uttering
sharp skreek calls. It
sits very upright whilst
perched prominently,
like a shrike. It
is insectivorous and
hunts in flight in the understorey. In the afternoons, it
dives from perches to bathe in small pools of water.
Its breeding season lasts from May to July. Being
socially monogamous both male and female take part in
nest-building, incubation, brooding and feeding of the
young. The incubation period lasts 14 to 16 days and
the nestling period 9 to 12 days. Three or four eggs are
laid in a neat cup nest made with twigs and spider webs
on the end of a low branch. The nest is sometimes built
in the vicinity of a breeding pair of drongos, which keep
predators away. Chicks hatch in about 21 to 23 days. A
case of interspecific feeding has been noted with
paradise flycatcher chicks fed by Oriental white-eyes.
 ASIAN KOEL

The Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) is a member

of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. It is
found in the Indian Subcontinent, China, and Southeast
Asia. It forms a superspecies with the closely
related black-billed koels, and Pacific koels which are
sometimes treated as subspecies. The Asian koel like
many of its related cuckoo kin is a brood parasite that
lays its eggs in the nests of crows and other hosts, who
raise its young. They are unusual among the cuckoos in
being largely frugivorous as adults. The name koel is
echoic in origin with several language variants. The
bird is a widely used symbol in Indian and Nepali
poetry.
BIONOMIAL NAME: EUDYNAMYS SCOLOPACEUS
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
KINGDOM: ANIMALIA
PHYLUM: CHORDATA
CLASS: AVES
ORDER: CUCULIFORMES
FAMILY: CUCULIDAE
GENUS: EUDYNAMYS
SPECIES: E. scolopaceus

DESCRIPTION
The Asian koel is a large and long-tailed cuckoo
measuring 39-46 cm (15-
18 in) and weighing 190-
327 g.
 
The male of the nominate
race is glossy bluish-black,
with a pale greenish grey
bill, the iris is crimson, and
it has grey legs and feet.
The familiar song of the
male is a repeated koo-Ooo.

The female of the nominate

race is brownish on the
crown and has rufous
streaks on the head. The
back, rump and wing
coverts are dark brown with white and buff spots. The
underparts are whitish, but is heavily striped. The
female makes a shrill kik-kik-kik... call. Calls vary
across populations.
The other subspecies differ in colouration and size. The
upper plumage of young birds is more like that of the
male and they have a black beak. They are very vocal
during the breeding season (March to August in the
Indian Subcontinent), with a range of different calls.
They show a pattern of moult that differs from those of
other parasitic cuckoos. The outer primaries show an
alternating ascending moult while the inner primaries
are moulted in stepwise descending order.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

The Asian koel is a bird of light woodland and
cultivation. It is a mainly resident breeder in tropical
southern Asia from Iran, India, Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka to southern China and the Greater Sundas. They
have great potential in colonizing new areas, and were
among the pioneer birds to colonize the volcanic island
of Krakatau. They first arrived in Singapore in the
1980s and became very common birds.
Some populations may make long-distance movements
being found in places like Australia.

BEHAVIOUR
The Asian koel is a brood parasite, and lays its
single egg in the nests of a variety of birds, including
the jungle crow, and house crow. In Sri Lanka before
1880 it was only known to parasitize the jungle crow,
later shifting to the house crow. A study in India found
5% of Corvus splendens and 0.5% of Corvus
macrorhynchos nests parasitized.
BROOD PARASITISM
Males may distract the hosts so that the female gets
a chance to lay an egg in the nest. More often however,
the female visits the nest of the host alone. The koel is
not known to lay eggs
in an empty host nest
and a study in
Pakistan found that
the first koel eggs
were laid, on average,
within one and half
days of the laying of
the host's first egg. The chicks of the koel hatched about
3 days ahead of the host chicks. Koels usually lay only
an egg or two in a single nest but as many as seven to
eleven eggs have been reported from some host nests. A
female may remove a host egg before laying. Eggs
hatch in 12 to 14 days. The young koel does not always
push out eggs or
evict the host
chicks, and
initially calls like
a crow. The
young fledge in
20 to 28 days. 
Unlike some
other cuckoos, the
young do not attempt to kill the host chicks, a trait that
is shared with the channel-billed cuckoos which are also
largely frugivorous as adults. It has been suggested that
koels, like some other brood parasites do not evict the
host chicks due presumably due to the higher cost of
evicting nest mates. A small parasite may not be able to
evict large host eggs or chicks from a deep Corvid nest
without risking starvation and possibly accidental self-
eviction. An alternative hypothesis that retaining host
chicks might benefit the koel chicks did not gain much
support. Adult female parents have been known to feed
young koels in the nests of the hosts, a behaviour seen
in some other brood parasitic species as well. Adult
males have however not been noted to feed fledglings.
The Asian koel is omnivorous, consuming a variety
of insects, caterpillars, eggs and small vertebrates.
Adults feed mainly on fruit. They will sometimes
defend fruiting trees that they forage in and chase away
other frugivores. They have been noted to be especially
important in the dispersal of the sandalwood tree
(Santalum album) in India. Large seeded fruits are
sometimes quickly regurgitated near the parent tree
while small seeded fruits are ingested and are likely to
be deposited at greater distances from the parent
tree. They have a large gape and are capable of
swallowing large fruits including the hard fruit of palms
such as Arenga and Livistona. They have been known
to occasionally take eggs of small birds.
They feed on the fruits of Cascabela thevetia which are
known to be toxic to mammals.
A number of parasites of the species have been
described, including malaria-like protozoa, lice and
nematodes.
 GARGANEY

The garganey (Spatula querquedula) is a
small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and
across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the
entire population moving to southern Africa, India (in
particular Santragachi), Bangladesh (in the natural
reservoirs of Sylhet district) and Australasia in winter,
[2]
 where large flocks can occur. This species was first
described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th
edition of Systema Naturae. Like other
small ducks such as the common teal, this species rises
easily from the water with a fast twisting wader-like
flight. Their breeding habitat is grassland adjacent to
shallow marshes and steppe lakes.
BIONOMIAL NAME: SPATULA QUERQUEDULA
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
KINGDOM: ANIMALIA
PHYLUM: CHORDATA
CLASS: AVES
ORDER: ANSERIFORMES
FAMILY: ANATIDAE
GENUS: SPATULA
SPECIES: S. querquedula

DESCRIPTION
The adult male is
unmistakable, with its
brown head and breast
with a broad white
crescent over the eye.
The rest of the plumage
is grey, with loose grey scapular feathers. It has a grey
bill and legs. In flight it shows a pale
blue speculum with a white border. When swimming it
will show prominent white edges on its tertials.
His crown (anatomy) is dark and face is reddish brown.
Male emit crackling notes, burps, and harsh rattles.
 Female produce low “gack”
calls. Some care is needed in
separating the brown female
from the similar common
teal, but the stronger face
markings and more frequent head-shaking when
dabbling are good indicators. Confusion with the female
of the blue-winged teal is also possible, but the head
and bill shape is different, and the latter species has
yellow legs. Pale eyebrow, dark eye line, pale lore spot
bordered by a second dark line.
Measurements:
 Size: 41 cm
 Wingspan: 58 - 69 cm.
 Weight: 300- 440 g
These birds feed mainly by skimming rather than
upending.
The male has a distinctive crackling mating call; the
female is rather silent for a female duck, but can
manage a feeble quack.
Garganey are rare breeding birds in the British Isles,
with most breeding in quiet marshes
in Norfolk and Suffolk. In Ireland a few pairs breed
in Wexford, with occasional breeding elsewhere.
Small and often rather unobtrusive duck of wetlands
with reedy and other fringing vegetation. Handsome
male distinctive, with big white eyebrow on dark brown
head, pale grey flanks; pale grey forewing striking in
flight. Female very similar to female Green-winged
Teal but head pattern more contrasting, with paler
eyebrow, darker eye stripe, and unstreaked whitish
throat. Breeds widely across Eurasia; winters in Africa
and southern Asia. Migrants can be on more open
water, even tidal mudflats. Associates readily with other
ducks; feeds mainly by dabbling.

MIGRATION
The Garganey duck breeds in flooded fields and
swamplands throughout Europe and Asia. This mid-
sized duck can be recognized by the distinctive white
stripe around its
eye and the blue
and white patches
along its wings.
Strictly migratory
ducks, Garganeys
travel from as far
north as the United
Kingdom to
wintering grounds
in the northern tropics of Africa.
A long-distance migrant in the Old World, this small
duck sometimes goes off course, and might turn up
almost anywhere in North America. Most likely to be
seen in spring, on marshy ponds of the sort favoured by
Blue-winged Teal. In the western Aleutian Islands,
Alaska, occurs as a rare migrant in spring and very
rarely in fall.

RANGE AND HABITAT

Native of Eurasia, breeds locally from Britain and
France to central Europe, north to southern Sweden and
more continuously from Eastern Europe to Russia.
Regular migrant in west and central Aleutians and other
Alaskan islands. Casual elsewhere across North
America. Preferred habitats include shallow freshwater,
lakes and marshes with abundant marginal vegetation.
BREEDING AND NESTING
During the breeding season they frequent small, shallow
ponds and lakes with abundant floating, emergent and
fringing vegetation. Seven to twelve creamy yellow to
light olive eggs are laid in a ground nest made of grass
and plant materials, lined with down and hidden in tall
grass or under a shrub. Incubation ranges from 21 to 23
days and is carried out by the female.

FORGING AND FEEDING

These ducks feed on a variety of plant seeds,
pondweeds, grasses, and aquatic macro-invertebrates
such as beetles and midges. They forage while
swimming with their head under the water. They feed
by filtering small particles from the water passed
through their bills rather than by tipping up.
\
 ASIAN OPENBILL

The Asian openbill is a large wading bird in

the stork family Ciconiidae. This distinctive stork is
found mainly in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast
Asia. It is greyish or white with glossy black wings and
tail and the adults have a gap between the arched upper
mandible and recurved lower mandible. Young birds
are born without this gap which is thought to be an
adaptation that aids in the handling of snails, their
main prey. Although resident within their range, they
make long distance movements in response to weather
and food availability.
BIONOMIAL NAME: Anastomus oscitans
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION
KINGDOM: ANIMALIA
PHYLUM: CHORDATA
CLASS: AVES
ORDER: CICONIIFORMES
FAMILY: CICONIIDAE
GENUS: ANASTOMUS
SPECIES: A. oscitans

DESCRIPTION
The Asian openbill stork is predominantly greyish (non-
breeding season) or white (breeding season) with glossy
black wings and tail that have a green or purple sheen.
The name is derived from the distinctive gap formed
between the recurved lower and arched upper mandible
of the beak in adult birds. Young birds do not have this
gap. The cutting edges of the mandible have a fine
brush like structure that is thought to give them better
grip on the shells of snails. The tail consists of twelve
feathers and the preen gland has a tuft. The mantle is
black and the bill is horn-grey. At a distance, they can
appear somewhat like a white stork or Oriental stork.
The short legs are pinkish to grey, reddish prior to
breeding. Non-breeding birds have a smoky grey wings
and back instead of white. Young birds are brownish-
grey and have a brownish mantle. Like other storks, the
Asian openbill is a broad-winged soaring bird, which
relies on moving between thermals of hot air for
sustained flight. They are usually found in flocks but
single birds are not uncommon. Like all storks, it flies
with its neck outstretched. It is relatively small for a
stork and stands at 68 cm height (81 cm long).

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

The usual foraging habitats are inland wetlands and are
only rarely seen along river banks and tidal flats. On
agricultural landscapes, birds forage in crop fields,
irrigation canals, and in seasonal marshes. 
Birds may move widely in response
to habitat conditions. Young birds also disperse widely
after fledging. Individuals ringed at Bharatpur in India
have been recovered 800 km east and a bird ringed in
Thailand has been recovered 1500 km west in
Bangladesh. Storks are
regularly disoriented by
lighthouses along the
southeast coast of India
on overcast nights
between August and
September. The species is
very rare in the Sind and
Punjab regions of
Pakistan, but widespread
and common in India, Sri
Lanka, Nepal,
Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Thailand and
Cambodia. It has recently expanded its range into
south-western China.

FOOD AND FORGAGING

During the warmer part of
the day, Asian Openbills
soar on thermals and have
a habit of descending
rapidly into their feeding
areas. Groups may forage
together in close proximity
in shallow water or marshy
ground on which they may
walk with a slow and
steady gait. The Asian
openbill feeds mainly on
large molluscs, especially Pila species, and they
separate the shell from the body of the snail using the
tip of the beak. The tip of the lower mandible of the
beak is often twisted to the right. This tip is inserted
into the opening of the snail and the body is extracted
with the bill still under water. They are able to capture
snails even when blindfolded. They forage for prey by
holding their bill tips slightly apart and make rapid
vertical jabs in shallow water often with the head and
neck partially submerged. The gap in the bill is not used
for handling snail shells and forms only with age.
Young birds that lack a gap are still able to forage on
snails. It has been suggested that the gap allows the tips
to strike at a greater angle to increases the force that the
tips can apply on snail shells. Smaller snails are often
swallowed whole or crushed. They also feed on water
snakes, frogs and large insects. When foraging on
agricultural landscapes with a variety of habitats, Asian
openbills preferentially use natural marshes and lakes
(especially in the monsoon and winter), and irrigation
canals (especially in the summer) as foraging habitat.
OBSERVATION

We joined together to visit Guindy National Park where

we enjoyed happily with nature. There we had a new
experience with the environment. We went into the
forest by which we met trees and plants which finally
became close to our heart. The field work made us to
improve our knowledge on environment and
environmental studies. This educational trip to Guindy
Park made us to think of saving environment. We made
a note on all the trees, plants, animals, birds, insects in
the park.

In this project, I have explained about some of the

beautiful birds all over the world. There are a lot of
varieties of birds all over the world with various shades
of colours. Also I have enumerated about GOLDEN–
BACKED WOODPECKER, INDIAN PARADISE
FLYCATCHER, ASIAN KOEL, GARGANEY, and
ASIAN OPENBILL. It was so interesting while
knowing about these birds and their habitat.
By this field work we understood the importance of
nature and forest. This field work displayed everything
we studied about nature in our books. So over all we
enjoyed and learnt about nature by this trip to Guindy
National Park.
 WAYS TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT

CLEAN AIR:

 Painting your house? Use a latex paint. Oil-based paints

release hydrocarbon fumes.
 Get a type-up. Properly maintained vehicles get better
gas mileage and emit fewer pollutants.
 Don’t top off your gas tank. Overfilling causes spills that
release hydro carbons and their toxic chemicals into the
air.
 Conserve energy. You’ll lower your utility bills and help
avoid peak demands on utility plants.
 Don’t burn your yard waste. It’s illegal in many areas of
Ohio because burning yard waste releases mold spores,
soot, and other contaminants that can aggravate allergies
and cause respiratory problems.
 Plant a tree. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse
gas.
 Park the car. Walk, bike or use mass- transit whenever
you can. Vehicle traffic is a major contributor to smog.
CLEAN WATER:

 Use less fertilizer on your lawn. When it rains, excess

fertilizer runs off into storm sewers and pollutes streams.
 Never pour anything- especially waste oil or leftover
lawn chemicals – into a storm drain. It will end up in the
nearest streams.
 Don’t trash our streams. Volunteer groups sponsoring
annual clean-ups find everything from old tires to old
appliances in our water.
 Water your lawn in the early morning. When the water
will soak in and not evaporate in the heat of the day.
 Don’t water the side walk – it won’t grow. Set your
sprinkler to keep the water on the lawn.
 Mulch around your landscaping. A three- inch layer of
mulch holds moisture and prevents evaporation, reducing
the need to water.
 Use a bucket when you wash your car, instead of the
hose.
 Sweep your driveway and sidewalk instead of cleaning
them up by spraying with the hose.
 Don’t do the dishes until you have a full load. Your
dishwasher uses 12 gallons of water whether it is full or
half-empty.
 Wash a full load of laundry. Your washing machine uses
40 gallons of water. Run it full, or adjust the water level
to the size of your load.
 Take a shorter shower. And switch to a low-flow shower
head.
 Don’t water more than once a week, and then only if it
hasn’t rained. Established lawns need only one inch of
water a week.
 Don’t let the water run while you shave or brush your
teeth. Turn it on only when you need it. Every minute the
faucet runs, five gallons of water go down the drain.
 Repair leaky faucets and toilets. You can tell if the toilets
leaks by putting food colouring in the tank. If colour
shows up in the bowl without flushing, there’s a leak.
 Install faucet aerators. You can cut your water usage by
up to six percent.
CLEAN LAND:

 Recycle. If your community does not offer a recycling

program, ask local official to start one.
 Don’t put hazardous materials in the trash. Save paints,
pesticides, lawn chemicals, car batteries, waste oil and
similar materials for your local household hazardous
waste collection day.
 Don’t buy more than you need. When it comes to lawn
chemicals, pesticides, paints and other hazardous
materials, buy a smaller package so you won’t have
leftovers to dispose of.
 Paper or plastic? Better yet, take a canvas bag to the
grocery and reuse it each time you shop.
 Use both sides of the paper. Set your copier to make
double – sided copies and you’ll substantially reduce
your paper use.
 Use rechargeable batteries. Many batteries contain
metals that are better kept out of landfills.
 Give it away, don’t throw it away. Many charitable
organizations accept donation of wearable clothing and
gently used household items.
 Turn in your mercury thermometer and replace it with a
digital one. Mercury is a persistent pollutant that moves
up the food chain and can cause serious health disorders.
Never vacuum spilled mercury. If you have mercury in
your home, call OhioEPA (614-64-3469) to find out ot
get rid of it safely.
 CONCLUSION

This trip on environment studies is used to in

studying and observing nature and their
importance. The Guindy national Park has
many species sum of which cannot be seen
elsewhere. We hope our wildlife authorities
will ensure the biodiversity of Guindy Park
with its open scrub, grassland and water
bodies is produced and maintained so that the
species which thrive in this natural habitat will
survive for generation to come.

Through this study on environment I could

understood the importance of nature and the
importance of production of environment.