Guild, Status and Diversity of Avifauna in Agricultural Landscapes of District Panipat, Haryana, India

Abstract

^{Diversity of avifauna is one of the most important ecological indicators to evaluate the integrity and stability of ecosystem structure and functions. Characteristic avifauna in landscapes enables predictions about the ecological health and possible deviations in the ecosystem functions. This is the first report on avian diversity in agricultural landscapes of Panipat district of Haryana. Surveys were conducted from April 2016 to March 2017, employing point-transect and direct observations to record bird species. A total of 103 bird species belonging 44 families and 15 orders were identified. Species richness was highest for the order Passeriformes (48), followed by Pelecaniformes (15) and rest 13 orders. Ardeidae was the richest mentioned family with 8 species and constituting 7.76% of the bird community in the study area. The agricultural landscapes support 80 residents, 17 winter migrants and 6 summer migrants. The highest species richness was recorded in the month of January compared to the remaining months. Six major feeding guilds were recorded. Most bird species were insectivorous (35) followed by carnivorous (27), omnivorous (26), granivorous (9), frugivorous (5) and nectarivorous (1). Among recorded avifauna, four species are listed as near threatened in IUCN Red list; six species are listed in Appendix II of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and five species are included in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Moreover, five species having a globally declining population trend are still common in the study area. This emphasizes that study sites are the habitat for bird species of conservation priorities. The current information is expected to provide a baseline for future research on monitoring the population and seasonal changes in the bird assemblages of agricultural landscapes.}