Avian congregation sites in the Gulf of Kachchh, Gujarat, India

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JIgar D. Joshi
Sandeep B. Munjpara
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6720-8410
Kinjal Joshi
Harshad Salvi
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3525-2545
R.D. Kamboj

Abstract

he 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.

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