About Waterbody
Koonthankulam village itself has a lot to be praised for. For centuries, birds and people have co-existed here in a symbiotic relation, preserved through morals of tolerance, religion and general respect for nature. As winter sets in, thousands of birds flock the tamarind and neem trees, and farmlands and water bodies, nesting and rearing their young in the midst of the residents of Koonthakulam. Historical records indicate an account of this village from one Reverend Charles Theophilus Edward Rhenius, who lived in Tirunelveli from 1814—38. Later in 1945, Webb-Peploe and in 1961 Margaret Wilkinson also reported on the village in the Journal of Bombay Natural History Society. Playing host to over 200 species, Koonthankulam is now a Bird Sanctuary and is one of the few havens for species like the grey pelican, which once numbered several thousands.