Sirudavoor Lake

Sirudavoor Lake is a rain-fed freshwater lake about 51 km south of Chennai, near the Coromandel coast, with the village of Sirudavoor on its north-east edge. Local people use it for irrigation and fishing. Around the open water are grassland, sparse dry scrub and reed beds, a mix that supports a wide range of birds.

More than 110 resident and migratory species have been recorded, 84 of them in the Asian Waterbird Census of January 2020. The lake is known for freshwater ducks such as the Eurasian wigeon and cotton pygmy goose, and the Indian courser breeds here. Red-wattled and yellow-wattled lapwings can be seen side by side, along with kingfishers, bee-eaters, larks and uncommon birds of prey like the short-toed snake-eagle and red-necked falcon. In winter, visitors include glossy and black-headed ibises, Eurasian spoonbills, painted and openbill storks, booted eagles, pratincoles and sandpipers.