Save Botanical Garden Kondapur- Here are more than 53 reasons to sign a petition to save it
I visit Kondapur Botanical Garden very often both with my family as with our nature club GHAC Nature. I have written posts about visit to botanical garden earlier on this blog
After that also we regularly visit Botanical Garden for its beautiful flowers, fresh air and above all the hundreds of birds that are found there.
Unfortunately for some time there are some plans by the government to convert a part of the botanical garden into an Eco Tourism complex with Hotels, shopping mall etc. Most of us Hyderabadis think that this is a ploy to convert the green lung into commercial buildings as now the Botanical Garden is part of a prime real estate.
While places like Banjara Hills and Jubilee hills have gardens and forests like Lotus Pond and KBR Park, in the IT part of the city in Gachibowli, Kondapur, Madhapur, the only green lung we have is Botanical Garden. Also, it is a home to more than 50 species of birds and countless lesser fauna like insects, millipedes, centipedes, bugs, spiders etc. Let me give you here below the list of some of the birds that we have spotted regularly in Kondapur Botanical Garden
- Ashy Prinia
- Asian Cuckoo
- Baya Weaver
- Black Drongo
- Black Headed Ibis
- Black Kite
- Black Winged Kite
- Blue Eared Kingfisher
- Blue Flycatcher
- Brahmani Kite
- Common Coot
- Common Crow
- Common Moorhen
- Common Pigeon
- Coppersmith Barbet
- Crested Kingfisher
- Darter
- Greater Coucal
- Green Bee Eater
- Grey Heron
- Grey Wagtail
- Hoopoe
- House Sparrow
- House Swift
- Indian Grey Hornbill
- Indian Iora
- Indian Pea Fowl
- Indian Robin
- Indian Roller
- Jungle Babbler
- Large Pied Wagtail
- Lesser Cormorant
- Little Egret
- Little Grebe
- Myna
- PaddyField Pipit
- Painted Stork
- Pied Bushchat
- Plain Prinia
- Pond Heron
- Purple Sunbird
- Red Munia
- Red Vented Bulbul
- Red Wattled Lapwing
- River Tern
- Rose Ringed Parakeet
- Rosy Starling
- Scaly Breasted Munia
- Spotted Bill Duck
- Spotted Dove
- White-breasted Kingfisher
- White Ibis
- Yellow Wagtail

This Little Butterfly has only one home

Gloriosa Superba, State flower of Tamil Nadu found in the Woods and also national flower of Zimbabwe
This list is by no means complete and only lists birds that I have personally spotted in and around Kondapur Botanical Garden, a lot of them make nests in the trees and bushes in the Botanical gardens and would simply die if any kind of construction activity is undertaken in the botanical gardens. Besides these birds, a few of the lizards are regularly spotted here about some of whom I wrote in my posts about Lizards in Hyderabad. NOTE: Not all lizard pictures were taken in botanical gardens some are from other places. You see lizards are not very keen to be clicked, so I make a note of when I spot a lizard and bird and try to click when I have a clear view without disturbing our little friends.
Not only birds and reptiles almost every butterfly found in Hyderabad has been spotted in the botanical garden and they will have nowhere to go if the gardens get destroyed.
If you want to learn more about Indian birds here are some books that you can check ( disclaimer: Amazon Affiliate links)
- The book of Indian Birds by Salim Ali
- Birds of India: Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives
- Birds of Southeast Asia
So I think it is important that we work towards saving the green lung that we have for us as well as for our little friends who have nowhere else to go. I am giving here a link to a petition spearheaded by Greenpeace India which you can sign and petition to save the botanical garden Kondapur.
Kindly share this post with your friends and family and spread the message to save Botanical Garden Kondapur in Hyderabad.
Nice pics. Do you have pics of all the species mentioned above?
I’ve recently become interested in birding. Some pics of mine at Botanical Garden are shared here – http://www.anecdotes.in/2013/10/birds-at-botanical-garden-hyderabad.htm
Thanks Arun. I do not have pics of all the birds mentioned in the post as a lot of time I just carry my binoculars and don’t click pictures. You have good site. You can join GHAC Nature for bird-watching trips
Thanks!
I’ve joined GHAC but yet to go on a birding trip with them..
For participating in the “Caputre the colour contest” I was asked to nominate 5 bloggers that I liked and I have nominated you. My entry to contest is at: http://sunil-wallpaper.blogspot.it/2013/09/capture-colour.html while the contest website is: http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/holidays/capture-the-colour/
Thanks Sunil. Will try my best to participate…