located on the northern banks of periyar river, thattekad is an ever green low-land forest on the foothills of western ghat mountain ranges. this helped thattekad to become one of the richest bio diversity area in india. forest types include tropical semi- evergreen and tropical moist deciduous. a large part of the bird sanctuary is teak plantations. situated in the kothamangalam thaluk of eranakulam district of kerala, this area comes under the administrative jurisdiction of idukki wildlife division. thattekad sanctuary and the adjoining forest is part of a large ecological unit with malayattoor, parambikulam, sholayar areas on one side and munnar, chinnar, eravikulam hill ranges on the other side. thattekad bird sanctuary, which is the first bird sanctuary in kerala was set up back in 1983, based on studies and recommendation by well known ornithologist dr. salim ali, who is also known as the bird man of india. he described thattekad as “the richest bird habitat in south india, comparable only to eastern himalayas.”

thattekad bird sanctuary and adjoining forests is home to varied flora and fauna which includes 34 species of mamals,280 species of birds,30 species of reptiles,amphibians 15 and fishes 47 species. salim ali bird sanctuary is famous for many endemic and endangered birds like ceylon frogmouth,black bazza,oriental dwarf kingfisher,bay owl etc which makes this place a must visit location in every bird watcher’s list. number of bird watchers and nature lovers visiting thattekad from around the world peaks during winter season ( nov to feb), as we get a lot of migratory birds from different parts on india and abroad.