Kokrebellur

Kokkarebellur, usually shortened by the colloquial usage to Kokrebellur is a village in Maddur taluk of Mandya district of Karnataka, India. The village is named after the painted stork(Ibis leucocephalus) called “kokkare” in Kannada language. It is situated near Maddur between the cities of Mysore and Bangalore. Apart from painted storks the spotbilled pelicans, are also found here. Both are classified as “near threatened category” in IUCN Red List of 2009. The village is one of the 21 breeding sites existing in India.The uniqueness in Kokkarebellur is the long established bonding between the spot-billed pelicans and the villagers who have adopted this bird as their heritage, since they consider the birds as harbingers of good luck and prosperity to the village. The benefits derived by the villagers from these birds are basically in the form of phosphorus and potassium rich manure obtained from the bird droppings (also known as guano). Further, over the years, the popularity of this uniqueness has also attracted tourists to the village to watch the birds.EtymologyThe name of the village “Kokkarebellur” (Kannada - ಕೊಕ್ಕರೆಬೆಳ್ಳೂರು) is derived from two words: ‘kokkare’ meaning “stork” or “pelican” and ‘bellur’ meaning” white villageGeographyThe village is located 800m to the west of the Shimsa River. The area in the vicinity of the village offers large water bodies in the form of several large tanks such as the Tailur Kere (‘Kere’ means “tank”), the Maddur Kere and the Sole Kere that sustain food needs (particularly, fishes and shell fishes) of the pelicans and other birds. The village setting at Kokkarebellur has nesting trees in the form of Ficus (F religiosa, F bengalensis) and tamarind (Tamarindus indica) trees. The Mandya district, where the village is located, has extensive agricultural fields with sugarcane as a major crop. During the season of migration of birds, large colonies of spot-billed pelicans and painted storks are seen nesting, mostly in tamarind trees.