The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, covering an area of barely 25 km2, 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.

[1][2] 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.

There is a large evergreen forest to the east and south-east of the Idamalayar Dam, extending from Malakkappara to as far as Rajamala.

Other birds in this forest include dark-fronted babbler, brown-cheeked fulvetta, brown-backed and white-rumped needletails, and Asian emerald doves.