Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary, locally known as "Chitrangudi Kanmoli" is located in Ramanathapuram district, in the village named Chitrangudi, adjacent to Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is 5 km from Mudukulathur and 25 km away from Paramakudi, in a drought-prone area. Villages surrounding Chitrangudi include, Poonghanpulli, Erachikulam, and Keelakanchanakulam. The wetland is a protected area since 1989 and declared as Bird Sanctuary, coming under the jurisdiction of Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Ramanathapuram division. Internationally, Chitrangudi comes under the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA; code IN261, Criteria A1, A4i) as reported by BirdLife International and Wetlands International, besides being part of the Key Biodiversity Areas of the world. Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary is an ideal habitat for winter migratory birds. Around 50 birds belonging to 30 families have been reported from the site. Out of these 47 are water birds and 3 terrestrial birds. Notable waterbirds spotted from the site area spot-billed pelican, little egret, grey heron, large egret, open billed stork, purple, and pond herons. Chitrangudi is surrounded by agricultural fields, where different crops are grown throughout the year. Plant remains and grains scattered after harvesting along with the pond water allure the avifauna. The wetland also supports a number of fishes, amphibians, molluscs, aquatic insects, and their larvae forming good food sources for arriving waterbirds. Groundwater is extracted for irrigation around and within the wetland for agricultural purposes. Excess flood water is let out towards Chitrangudi village through a sluice gate about 0.5 km from the inlet aqueduct and helps avert overflooding. The main source of water for the wetland is rainfall, groundwater, and the surrounding runoff from the catchment area and Vaigai and Gundaru Rivers. Water is mostly intermittent in nature with frequent occasions of drying, helping in replenishing the groundwater.

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.