Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 November 2020 | 12(15): 17147–17152
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
doi: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5385.12.15.17147-17152
#5385 | Received 05 September 2019 | Final
received 27 August 2020 | Finally accepted 20 October 2020
Avian congregation sites in the
Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat, India.
Jigar D. Joshi 1,
Sandeep B. Munjpara 2, Kinjal Joshi 3,
Harshad Salvi 4 & R.D. Kamboj 5
1,2,3,4,5 Gujarat Ecological Education And
Research (Geer) Foundation, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382007, India.
1 jigarjoshi4mylife@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2sandeepmunjpara@gmail.com, 3kinjal.joshi90@gmail.com,
4harshadsalvi@gmail.com, 5dir-gir@gujarat.gov.in
Editor: Zafar-ul
Islam, Prince Saud Al Faisal Wildlife Research Center,
Taif, Saudi Arabia. Date
of publication: 26 November 2020 (online & print)
Citation: Joshi, J.D., S.B. Munjpara, K. Joshi, H. Salvi & R.D. Kamboj (2020). Avian congregation sites in the
Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(15): 17147–17152. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5385.12.15.17147-17152
Copyright: © Joshi et al. 2020. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: The World Bank; The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India; Environment and
Forest Department, Government of Gujarat.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors would like to extend
their gratitude to The World Bank, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and
Climate Change, Government of India and Environment and Forest Department,
Government of Gujarat for financially supporting Integrated Coastal Zone
Management (ICZM) Project. The help
received from Gujarat Ecological Commission, the State Project Management Unit
of the ICZMP of Gujarat State is also duly acknowledged. The authors extend their special thanks to
Mr. Vikram Singh, manager, Gujarat Ecological
Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar for facilitating
financial support. Our deep gratitude
towards the officers & field staff of Marine National Park and Sanctuary, Jamnagar
and Kachchh circle for their help during the field visits. Special thanks to Mr. Rakesh Patel and Mr.
Harshad Patel for preparing maps.
Thanks, are also due to Ms. Kinjal Joshi, senior research fellow, and
former project staff members Mr. Bhavesh Parmar, Mr. Nisarg
Chaudhari, and Mr. Yashpal Anand for contributing to the field data collection
of the project.
Abstract: The present study deals with the
congregation of avifauna at various locations in Gulf of Kachchh (GoK), Gujarat, India.
The study was conducted between 2011 and 2014. A total of 14 sites were identified in Gulf
of Kachchh which had regular and remarkable congregation of mono-species or
multi-species of waterbirds. The observations were made through line
transects and point count sampling methods.
The largest congregation sites were Bhaidar
and Pirotan Islands with more than 5,000 individuals
of waterbirds.
Khijadiya wetland was also recorded with a
remarkable number of birds in the congregation, i.e., more than 4,000
individuals. The identified congregation
sites were found to be distributed throughout the southern part of GoK. Such sites were
intertidal areas, freshwater bodies, saltpans etc. The bird congregations comprised resident and
migratory waterbirds and coastal birds.
Keywords: Bhaidar, congregation, Khijadiya, migratory, Pirotan,
resident, sampling, waterbirds.
Many families of birds congregate
either to breed or to feed during non-breeding period and sometimes,
congregation protects them from natural predators as well. If degradation persists at the breeding
colony for a long time, it may affect the population of those breeding birds
and if similar site related threats perseveres at the non-breeding or wintering
sites, the birds might have to look for other similar sites to sustain
themselves (BirdLife International 2008). A majority of congregations are observed in
families such as Pelecanidae, Ardeidae,
Anatidae, Ciconiidae, Scolopacidae, and other shore-birds. Usually, congregation of birds comprise
single or more than one species. And
usually, waterbirds are congregational compared to
terrestrial birds (Pandey & Teli 2005).
Gujarat is a maritime state in
India having the longest coastline and rich in coastal biodiversity (Sengupta
& Deshmukhe 2000). Out of the three gulfs in India, two gulfs,
i.e., Gulf of Kachchh (GoK) and Gulf of Khambhat (GoKh) are in Gujarat State.
GoK is one of the four major reefs of the
country (Venkataraman et al. 2003; Parasharya & Padate 2014).
Geographically, the GoK is endowed with
islands, intertidal areas, offshore areas, and terrestrial habitats in
shorelines that results in the existence of various habitats such as mangrove
forests, coral reefs, Inter-tidal mudflats, reef vegetation, salt affected
areas, and marine & terrestrial biodiversity (Sengupta & Deshmukhe 2000).
Furthermore, from an avifaunal point of view, GoK
is an ecologically significant place as two International flyways of migratory
birds pass through GoK (MoEF
2005; Newton 2007; Kirby 2010; BirdLife International
2010) and some internationally known congregation sites have been identified as
Important Bird Areas and potential Ramsar sites
(Islam & Rahmani 2004). The large continental shelf of the southern
part of the gulf harbors vast areas of mangrove and
coral reefs that provide shelter to other benthos such as fishes, crabs and
small invertebrates. Birds utilize these
vast habitats as a wintering ground and attract enormous migratory birds in the
state. Several studies have been carried
out to make an inventory of avifauna of GoK such as
Ali (1945); Ali (1962); Parasharya (1984); Naik et
al. (1991); Bhuva & Soni
(1998); Urfi (2002); Singh (2001); Singh et al.
(2004); Panday & Teli (2005); Jani & Mishra
(2007). Some of the observations with
scattered information on congregation are also available, however, detailed
information of the congregation sites is not available. The present study deals with the congregation
sites of avifauna in GoK, Gujarat, India.
Study Area
The present study is confined to
the GoK, the western-most part of the country that
encompasses an area of around 7,350km2 (ICMAM 2002). A cluster of nearly 42 islands exist in the
southern part of the gulf. GoK is a shallow water body and the average depth is 30m
ranging from 20m at the head to 60m at the mouth. In the southern part of the gulf, most of the
intertidal areas have been notified as marine national park and sanctuary,
which is also one of the IBA sites (Islam & Rahmani
2004). An area of 162.89km2and
457.92km2 have been declared as marine national park and marine
sanctuary, respectively (Singh 1994; Jani & Mishra 2007). The study was conducted on islands,
intertidal and coastal areas of the GoK. The area under the observation was mainly
500m landwards side and 200m seaward side from HTL. Along with this, 14 islands were also
considered for making observations.
Administratively, the southern part of GoK
comprise seven talukas viz., Okhamandal, Kalyanpur, Khambhalia, Lalpur, Jamnagar, Jodiya, and Maliya. Likewise,
the northern part of the GoK comprises six talukas,
viz.: Bhachau, Gandhidham, Anjar, Mundra, Mandvi, and Abdasa.
Methods
The observations for congregation
sites in the GoK were made through whole area search
with opportunistic observation as well as through point sample observations
from October 2011 to December 2014.
Coastal areas of a total of 13 talukas and 14 islands of the GoK were surveyed thoroughly to search and identify bird
congregations based on the number of waterbirds (as
per Delaney & Scott 2006). In
addition to the whole area search method, a total of 34 locations, mainly
wetlands near the coastline, were also selected for point sampling observations
for occurrence of bird congregations.
The observations were made with a pair of binoculars (10X50), spotting
scopes (16-48 X/ 20-60 X), GPS instrument and predesigned datasheet.
In order to recognise waterbird congregation sites worldwide, IBA has identified
four main criteria (Islam & Rahmani 2004). Any large geographical area that justifies at
least one of the four criteria can be considered as a congregation site. It is worth mentioning that islands and
coastal areas of the GoK are too small to apply these
criteria, however, to identify relatively important areas of the GoK from a congregation point of view, A4 (i) criterion (i.e., site known or thought to hold, on a
regular basis, >1% of a biogeographic population of a congregational
water-bird species) has been used as a reference. The count of water-birds
throughout the GoK is known to be about 66,855 birds
by Singh et al. (2004). Therefore, in
the present study, the site has an occurrence of more than 600 water-birds
(i.e., about 1% of 66,855 water-birds) those mentioned by Delaney & Scott
(2006) were considered as congregation site of the Gulf of Kachchh. Each site, identified based on the criterion,
might not fulfil the criteria for global recognition, but these can be
considered as important congregation sites in GoK.
Results and
Discussion
From the stretch of the GoK a total of 250 species of birds were recorded during
the study. Of the total recorded
species, a total of 145 (58%) were primarily terrestrial and 105 (42%) were
primarily aquatic. Though primarily
aquatic bird species were less than primarily terrestrial, the abundance of
aquatic species was always higher.
Moreover, many aquatic species have a tendency to congregate at a site
for various purposes such as foraging, sheltering, roosting and protection.
Many places in GoK were observed with a congregation of water-birds
(Images 1–3), however, a total of 14 locations were identified which had
regular, remarkably during winter, congregation of either mono-species or
multi-species (Figure 2). Among selected
sites for the observations, Bhaidar Island was
identified to be the largest congregation site of water-birds. During each
observation, especially in winters a minimum of 5,000 individuals of various
species were recorded. Sometimes bird
counts exceeded even 10,000 individuals.
About 28 species were recorded to be congregating in Bhaidar
island. Major congregating species were
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius, Kentish Plover Charadrius
alexandrinus, Eurasian Curlew Numenius
arquata orientalis. The extent of Bhaidar
Islands is about 51.57km2 with sand-dune, intertidal mudflats along
with mangroves and shrub vegetation (Singh et al. 2004). Such habitat features attract enormously
waders for feeding. The second largest
congregation site was recognised to be Pirotan
Island, with often more than 5,000 individuals.
Similar to Bhaidar, water-birds count on Pirotan sometimes exceeded 7,000 birds. Interestingly, Crab Plover Dromas ardeola was
a mono-species congregating bird on the Pirotan
island and recorded throughout the years whereas the other 13 species of birds
were found congregating on Pirotan island. The Pirotan island
is characterized by exposed sand-patches during low tides and it is partially
covered with mudflats and mangrove vegetation (Singh et al. 2004; Ramkumaran et al. 2017). Major congregating species at Pirotan Island were the Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa,
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica, Indian Skimmer Rynchops
albicollis, Grey Plover Pluvialis
squatarola, European Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria,
and Little stints Calidris minuta.
Observations were made mostly at 22.5970N & 69.9620E
, however, locations of the congregation varied due to various factors such as
tidal amplitude, tide timing, and activity of fishermen. Another important congregation site was Khijadiya wetland that makes the site as one of the
congregation sites of GoK. Though the number of birds in the entire sanctuary
would be in the thousands, some of the places in the Khijadiya
wetland and its surroundings had congregations of birds. It is important to mention that one of the
congregation place in the Khijadiya was the
congregation of migratory cranes (i.e., Common Crane Grus grus and Demoiselle Crane Grus virgo)
which roost in part on wetland covered with shallow water. A congregation of about 27 species were
recorded during the study period. Khijadiya remains always an important area for birds as it
has been declared an IBA site (Pandey & Teli
2005; Islam & Rahmani 2004). Congregations were also recorded in a saline
area of Tupani Village of Okhamandal
Taluka at 22.2330N & 69.2380E and a freshwater
wetland of Khara-Beraja Village of Jamnagar Taluka
during the study. So far, the sites were
not listed as avian congregation sites in any literature. Apart from mentioned sites, there were many
other sites recorded as avian congregation sites during the study (Table
1). Of the recorded sites, 11 sites were
intertidal area, saline area, saltpans and creeks, whereas the other three
sites were freshwater wetland habitats.
The congregation was recorded mainly during the winter and monsoon
seasons, however, a congregation was also recorded in summer at Charkala and Khijadiya. The likely reason for congregation in summer
is water availability. It is interesting
to note that no congregation site was recorded in northern GoK
(Figure 1), as the area is devoid of large intertidal area as well as saline or
freshwater wetlands. Occurrence of
migratory species is more towards the southern coast of the GoK
compared to the northern coast due to resource availability (Singh et al.
2004). The extensive mudflat areas
(intertidal and high-tidal mudflats), channels, shoals, islands, sand bars,
coral reefs and mangroves exist mainly in the southern part Saltpans are potential habitats for waders
and storks, herons and egrets present at the innermost parts of the Gulf, i.e.,
eastward of Jamnagar which are mainly occupied with saltpans along the coast
and mudflats (ICMAM 2002). In addition,
the southern part of the GoK comprises islands that
provide undisturbed habitats for roosting at night. Sparse mangrove, intertidal mudflats, the
coast dominated by sand and silt with narrow beaches at the northern side of
the GoK (ICMAM 2002), attracts a number of resident
as well as migratory coastal birds,
however, this area is not suitable for regular congregation of birds.
Conclusion
A total of 14 congregation sites
were recorded from the GoK, of which the largest site
was Bhaidar.
Whereas Pirotan Island and Khijadiya
wetland were also considerably large sites with a remarkable number of birds in
congregation, however, GoK may have more than 14
congregation sites. The recorded
congregation sites were found to be distributed throughout the southern part of
GoK. The
congregation sites are prone to damage by some of the anthropogenic activities
such as direct effect of fishing activities and indirect effects of pollutions
and alteration of habitats. Hence, the
sites should receive serious attention for the conservations because, if the
site get damaged, and population survival would be affected.
Table 1. Congregation sites
recorded from the Gulf of Kachchh (GoK) (2011–14).
Site no. |
Site name |
Geographical |
Habitat types |
No. of |
No. of species |
Season |
1 |
Bhaidar |
22.4580N &
69.2920E |
Intertidal area with mudflat |
>5000 |
28 |
Winter |
2 |
Pirotan |
22.5970N &
69.9620E |
Intertidal area with mangrove
cover and sand patches mangrove cover |
>5000 |
13 |
Winter |
3 |
Khijadiya |
22.5340N 70.1710E |
Fresh and saline water wetland |
>4000 |
27 |
Summer |
22.5200N &
70.1330E |
Fresh and saline water wetland |
>1000 |
19 |
Winter |
||
4 |
Khara-Beraja |
22.4720N &
69.9780E |
Freshwater wetland |
>2000 |
16 |
Winter |
22.4830N &
69.9670E |
Freshwater wetland |
>2000 |
17 |
Summer |
||
5 |
Salaya |
22.3030N &
69.5910E |
Wetland with saline mudflat |
>2000 |
35 |
Winter |
6 |
Panero |
22.3520N &
69.4580E |
Intertidal area with sand and
mudflat |
>1000 |
20 |
Winter |
7 |
Tupani |
22.2330N &
69.2380E |
Saline area |
>1000 |
21 |
Monsoon |
22.2380N &
69.1530E |
Saline area |
>800 |
17 |
Winter |
||
8 |
Sikarpur |
23.2110N &
70.7100E |
Saltpan |
>1000 |
16 |
Monsoon |
9 |
Kajarda |
23.1140N &
70.8330E |
Creek |
>1000 |
25 |
Winter |
10 |
Nava nagna |
22.5320N &
70.1060E |
Saltpan |
>1000 |
16 |
Winter |
11 |
Charakla |
22.1990N &
69.1370E |
Saltpan |
>800 |
15 |
Summer |
12 |
Padli |
22.3830N &
69.0350E |
Freshwater wetland |
>800 |
36 |
Winter |
13 |
Parodiya |
22.3410N &
69.6330E |
Thorny & Scrub |
>800 |
34 |
Winter |
14 |
Dhani |
22.4330N &
69.5080E |
Intertidal area with thorny
& scrub |
>800 |
10 |
Winter |
For
figures & images - - click here
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