Thattekad Trails

Thattekad Trails is a small Kerala-based guiding outfit operating in and around the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary at Thattekad, on the banks of the Periyar river roughly 12 km from Kothamangalam. The sanctuary, gazetted in 1983 on the recommendation of Dr. Salim Ali, is one of the richest lowland-forest birding sites in peninsular India, with more than 280 recorded species. The operation focuses on guided morning and evening walks targeting hard-to-find Western Ghats specialities such as Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Oriental Bay Owl, Black Baza, and Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, alongside extensions into the Bhootattankettu reservoir wetlands and the higher-elevation Munnar shola forests. It is one of several local Thattekad operations that have grown out of the village's transformation into a destination for international photographers and listers, and is set up to take both day visitors and multi-day groups.