The forest is popular among
bird watchers and is home to about 85 species of birds.
Red-wattled lapwing,
Hoopoe,
crested honey buzzard,
grey partridge,
coucal,
Indian eagle-owl,
white-breasted kingfisher,
pied kingfisher,
southern bush lark and
red-whiskered bulbul are commonly seen in the area. The 320-hectare Nanmangalam Reserved Forest, located about 10 km from Velachery, is a scrubland around an abandoned granite quarry and is home to some of the rare territorial orchids, according to a recent study. The neighbourhood of Nanmangalam is one of the 163 notified areas (
megalithic sites) in the state of
Tamil Nadu. ==See also==