The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, covering an area of barely 25 km, and located about 12 km from Kothamangalam (Kerala state, India), was the first bird sanctuary in Kerala. Salim Ali, one of the best known ornithologists, described this sanctuary as the richest bird habitat on peninsular India. Thattekkad literally means flat forest, and the region is a deciduous but generally moist low-land forest surrounding the Periyar River, the longest river in Kerala.

The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary has a rich and varied birdlife. Several species of birds, both forest birds as well as water birds, visit the sanctuaries; notable ones include the following:

The Indian pitta, which visits the sanctuary during winter and spends almost six months here.

• Orange-headed thrush
• Large-billed leaf-warbler
• Jerdon's nightjar
• Indian cuckoo
• Oriental darter
• Cormorants
• Whiskered terns
• Collared scops owl
• Ceylon frogmouth
• Grey-fronted green pigeon
• Yellow-browed bulbuls

The sanctuary is a habitat for different varieties of cuckoos and a region of the sanctuary popularly called "Cuckoo Paradise" is home to them, among which are the:

• Drongo cuckoo, which may be easily mistaken for drongo,
• Indian hawk cuckoo, which is highly vocal, and the
• Large hawk cuckoo, which looks relatively massive compared to other types of cuckoos, and is characterized by a dark grey and heavily streaked throat.

The Idamalayar forest is located about 15 km from Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary. There is a large evergreen forest to the east and south-east of the Idamalayar Dam, extending from Malakkappara to as far as Rajamala. The mountain hawk eagles are found in this forest. Other birds in this forest include dark-fronted babbler, brown-cheeked fulvetta, brown-backed and white-rumped needletails, and emerald green pigeons.

• Sailana Kharmour Bird Sanctuary
• Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary

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  Ceylon Frogmouth (Sri Lankan Frogmouth), surroundings of Thattekad Bird Sanctuary
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  View of Periyar from Pappitta Bird Trail
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  A landscape at Thattekad Bird Sanctuary
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  A landscape at Thattekad Bird Sanctuary
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  Thattekad Reservoir
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  Thattekad Bird Sanctuary Trail

• Swarna V.; Ramakrishnana, S. (28 May 2006). "Inside a magical rainforest". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013.
• "Bird sanctuaries: Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary". ENVIS Centre: Kerala, State of Environment and Related Issues, Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013.
• Staff (5 May 2009). "Rich pickings await bird lovers here". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013.
• Staff (12 August 2010). "Feel the wild at Thattekkad". Malayala Manorama.

• Things to Know before Travelling Thattekad
• Thattekad Sanctuary Entry fees and Timings
• Thattekad Butterfly park
• Thattekad Bird List