Tuesday, Feb 10, 2004 NAGERCOIL, FEB.9. The Kanyakumari District Forest Division has completed a baseline survey of birds in the forests of the district with the assistance of the amateur bird watchers. The three-day census was the first of its kind made for birds and the endeavour had been "fruitful" in providing scope to "assess the density of the bird species in the forest area" and indicated the "status of protection and health habitat available for them." Nearly five types of habitat were discovered during the survey conducted on February 5, 6 and7 and 144 species were observed in the dense virgin forests of Kanyakumari district, which was the tail end of the vibrant Western Ghats, according to the District Forest Officer, I. Anwar Deen. He told The Hindu here today that the wetland in the district was not included in the survey, as it deserved a special attention. He told The Hindu here today that the wetland in the district was not included in the survey, as it deserved a special attention. The Ceylon Frog Mouth was found in breeding and the nesting colonies of the Edible Nest Swiftlet that built nests with its saliva were also spotted. Birdwatchers comprised G. Christopher of the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram; P. Narayanan, eye surgeon from Madurai; Jomy Augustine from Kottayam; Sasikumar from Kannanur; Jafer Palot from the Zoological Survey of India, Kozhicode; Sathian from Calicat; Sethu Madhavan of Palakad and Raj Kumar and Usha Raj Kumar from Mysore. Accompanied by Forest department officials and staff, the team surveyed the Moist Dense Forests, plantations, shrub jungles, Evergreen Wet Forests and the Sholas. Mr. Anwar Deen said till date the Forest Department had no individual data on the birds available in the forest and the present survey would prompt the department to initiate another census in November this year in order to make the date comprehensive. Besides working out the abundance of bird species, the department would study the status of protection and health of the habitats soon, he added. The Emerald Dove, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Great Indian Hornbill, Pigmy Woodpecker, Jungle Night Jar, Nilgiris Woodpigeon, Black Capped Kingfisher, Streak Throated Woodpecker, Red Winged Bush Lark, Malabar Togon and Asian Sairy Bluebird are some of the other species that were found. Interestingly, Mr. Jomy Augustine, a botanist, discovered rare extinct plant species viz. Coffea crassifolia, Sygium cinjampettianum and Eugenia calacadensis during the census. This would provide scope for the officials to take up a separate census on the plant species in future.