About 25 km north-west of the Kavaratti island of Lakshadweep is a tiny sandy patch hardly 2m above the sea level covering an area of approximately 200x300 yards, called the Pitti island. The sand bank of Pitti is well known for its nesting birds. Thousand of Terns migrate to this island every year for nesting since time immemorial. The island is under the administration of Lakshadweep and is recently declared as a bird sanctuary.

The Pitti Island is inhabited by three species of Terns namely the Noddy Tern (Anous stolidus pileatus), Sooty Tern (Sterna fuscata nubilosa) and the Brown winged Tern (Sterna anaethetus). However, the biology and migration of these birds are little known but they are reported to migrate every year to Pitti for nesting as early as 1903 by Gardiner during his flora and fauna survey in Maldives and Laccadive. The islanders from Kavaratti have long association with Pitti for egg collection but have contradictory opinion on the nesting of Terns. Some claim bird nesting in Pitti to be taking place through out the year and according to few other islanders, Terns go away from this place by the end of September. The Sooty Tern is known to occur along the coastal states of India and its Bay islands, Burma, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles where as the Noddy Tern is basically a oceanic bird that is less seen in the mainland coast of India.

Terns in Pitti island as seen from a safe distance. (Photo: Basudev Tripathy)

During my survey of sea turtles, I had visited Pitti several times and observed different flock in different months but the February visit was significant one. I could see countless birds in several flocks through out the Pitti Island. The nesting season was perhaps approaching as I saw majority of the birds that were in nesting position. I also observed few solitary eggs on the sand that could have been laid within a day or two. From a safe distance, I identified the nesting flock from their colour. The Sooty Tern flock was black and white where as the Noody Tern flock was smoky brown colour. The nesting area too was widely separated for both the species.

Lakshadweep is famous for its nature tourism and Pitti Island can be another attraction for tourists and bird watchers, if it can be managed properly. However, it is also essential to see that birds do not get disturbed because of such tourism pressure. It is also in the interest of conservation that the poaching of eggs should be checked and this area should be prohibited for islanders for egg collection.