Avifaunal diversity in the University Campus of Kurukshetra, Haryana

SanjeevK. Gupta, Parmesh Kumar

& Manoj Kumar Malik

Department of Zoology, University College, KurukshetraUniversity, Kurukshetra, Haryana 136119, India

Email: sanjeevkuk@gmail.com

Date of publication (online): 26 December 2009

Date of publication (print): 26 December 2009

ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)

Editor: J. Praveen

Manuscript details:

Ms # o2159

Received 16 March 2009

Final received 19 October 2009

Finally accepted 01 December 2009

Citation: Gupta, S.K., P. Kumar & M.K. Malik (2009). Avifaunal diversity in the University Campus of Kurukshetra, Haryana. Journal of Threatened Taxa1(12): 629-632.

Copyright: © Sanjeev K. Gupta, Parmesh Kumar & Manoj Kumar Malik2009. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Prof. D Mohan, IFS, Wild Life Institute, Dehradun, India for suggestions in identification of bird species.: to Dr. K.B. Singh, Lecturer in Botany, University College Kurukshetrafor identification of vegetation in university campus.

For Figure & Table – click here

Birds are common denizens of the ecosystem and are considered indicator species (Blair 1999). They serve as monitors to examine the long term effects of habitat fragmentation. The Indian subcontinent has 1340 bird species (Ali & Ripley 1987; Manakadan& Pittie 2001). Recent developmental activities in the urban areas have led to large scale reduction in the quality of natural habitats. This has prompted us to make a survey of birds in Kurukshetrauniversity campus.

Study Area: Kurukshetra University (29⁰57’44.62”N & 76⁰49’10.80”E) is located in Haryana, at a distance of 4km. from Kurukshetra Railway Station and 8kms. from Pipli. Kurukshetra is very hot in summer and remarkably cold in winter, with atmospheric temperature varying from 45⁰C in summer and 2⁰C in winter. The 160ha university campus is situated on the western bank of the holy tank, Brahm Sarovar. A channel connecting Bhakra canal with Brahm Sarovar passes through the campus. The campus is surrounded by agricultural lands where wheat and paddy are cultivated. The important vegetation of the campus includes trees like Mangifera indica, Syzigium cumini, Eucalyptus hybrida, Syzigium frutcience, Morus alba, Citrus jambhiri, Eriobotrya japonica, Psydium quajava, Ficus carica, Azadirachta indica, Alstonia scholaris, Ficus bengalensis, Tectona grandis, Aegle marmelos, Emblica officinalis, Polyaithia longifolia, Thuja compacta, Delonix regia, Plumeria acutifolia, Terminalia arjuna, Bauhinia variegata, Kigelia sp., Ficus religiosa, Cassia fistula, Populus sp., Grevillea robusta,Mimusops elengi etc. The dominant shrubs are Cassia javanica, Ervatamia coronaria, Bougainvillea sp., Thevetia peruviana, Murraya exotica,Hibiscusrosa sinensis, Lagerstromea parviflora, Hamelia patens, Zizyphus jujuba, Zizyphus numularia, Acacia arabica, Capparis deciduas, Jasminumsp., Calotropis procera, Euphorbia sp., Nerium oleander, Lantana chamaera, Clerodendron sp.etc. while Parthenium, Amaranthus spinosus, Chenopodium ambrosiodes, Canbis sativa are the prominent weeds.

Methods: The study was carried out in the campus for four years, i.e., January 2005 to December 2008. Regular surveys were done by walking on fixed routes through the study area. Birds were observed from 0600 to 1000 hr and from 1600 to 1800 hr and details on habitat type, season, feeding habit and status (resident/migrant, breeding/nonbreeding) and frequency of occurrence were recorded. Ali & Ripley (1987) and Grimmet et al. (1999) were followed for identification. Breeding status was assigned after observing a standard protocol. The check list was prepared following Manakadan& Pittie (2001). Occurrence criteria were, Common recorded 9-10 times out of 10 visits, Fairly common recorded 6 -8 times out of 10 visits, Uncommon recorded 3 -5 times out of 10 visits, Rare recorded 0 -2 times out of 10 visits, and Irregular.

Results and Discussion: A total of 92 bird species belonging to 67 genera and 37 families were recorded which comprised 46 non passerine and 46 passerine species (Table 1). In this study Passeriformes was dominant with 18 families. Of all, family Turdinae dominated with 07 species. Out of total 92 species, 71 were resident and 21 were migrant species. Most of the migratory species were winter visitors except Pied Crested Cuckoo, Brainfever Bird and Eurasian Golden Oriole which were summer visitors. Out of 71 resident species, 60 species have been observed to be positively breeding in the campus. Grey Francolin, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Spotted Owlet, Blue Rock Pigeon, Spotted Dove, Red-wattled Lapwing, House Crow, Black Drongo, Common Myna, Jungle Babbler, Purple Sunbird and Red Vented Bulbul were common residents. Eurasian Wryneck and Dark-throated Thrush were irregular visitors. Surprisingly the House Sparrow (Passerdomesticus), a very common breeding resident, could not be recorded even once in the university campus during the entire span of the survey. The campus avifauna is composed of insectivores (33) followed by omnivores (25), carnivores (20), granivores (13), fruigivores (8) and nectarivores (2). The campus calls for more efforts in biodiversity and ecology conservation.

References

Ali, S. & S.D. Ripley (1987). Compact Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Oxford University Press, Delhi, India, 737pp.

Blair, R.B. (1999).Birds and butterflies; surrogate taxa for assessing biodiversity? Ecolological Application9: 164-170.

Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp(1999). Pocket guide to the birds of the Indian subcontinent. Oxford University Press, Delhi, India, 384pp.

Manakadan, R. & A. Pittie (2001). Standardised common and scientific names of the birds of the Indian subcontinent. Buceros-EnvisNewsletter 6(1): 1-37.