Vellode Bird Sanctuary is located in the Vadamugam Vellode Village of the Perundurai Taluk, located in the Erode District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located about 12 km from Erode along Chinnamalai main road. Vellode Bird Sanctuary provincially known as Periyakulam Yeri is one of the 141 Prioritized wetlands in Tamil Nadu. The wetlands have been evaluated and prioritized considering factors like the ecology of the wetland, earlier bird counts, records of breeding, and roosting colonies. This sanctuary is one among the 10 critical breeding habitats of wetland birds in Tamil Nadu which is situated near the city of Erode, which has no other ecologically refreshing recreation facilities nearby. The farmers from the fringe villages share a symbiotic relationship with the sanctuary, as they believe that their crop yields are enhanced with the arrival of a large number of birds. This is due to the irrigation water getting enriched by bird droppings. This is an added advantage to the farmers, who are always eager to have better productivity with organic fertilizers. This site forms part of the Central Asian Flyway.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it contains a representative, rare, or unique example of a natural or near-natural wetland type found within the appropriate biogeographic region.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species or threatened ecological communities.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports populations of plant and/or animal species important for maintaining the biological diversity of a particular biogeographic region.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports plant and/or animal species at a critical stage in their life cycles, or provides refuge during adverse conditions.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 20,000 or more waterbirds.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of waterbird.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it supports a significant proportion of indigenous fish subspecies, species or families, life-history stages, species interactions and/or populations that are representative of wetland benefits and/or values and thereby contributes to global biological diversity.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it is an important source of food for fishes, spawning ground, nursery and/or migration path on which fish stocks, either within the wetland or elsewhere, depend.

A wetland should be considered internationally important if it regularly supports 1% of the individuals in a population of one species or subspecies of wetland-dependent nonavian animal species.