Seasonal Monitoring of Waterbirds of Chhari Dhandh wetland in Kachchh District, Gujarat, India
Keywords:
Avifauna, Chhari Dhandh, Habitat, Seasonal variation, Waterbirds, WetlandAbstract
A study was conducted by Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation on waterbirds of Chhari Dhandh during the year 2016-17 covering all the major seasons. A total of 66 waterbird species were recorded that belonged to 14 families. Among all the families, maximum number of species were represented by Anatidae family (i.e., the family of ducks, geese and swans) and Ardidae family (i.e., the family of herons, egrets and bitterns) with 13 species belonging to each family. Chhari Dhandh supported maximum population of waterbirds (n=4,162) in winter. On the contrary, minimum waterbird population (n=362) occurred in this wetland during summer. The study has indicated that Chhari Dhandh has highest utility as waterbird habitat during winter season and therefore maximum management practices should be focused during this period. The study has also indicated that open water and shoreland area support a large number of waterbird species and many of them are gregarious (occurring in congregation) calling for the need of focusing management efforts on these two habitats.
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