COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THREE DIFFERENT AVIFAUNAL COMMUNITY OF MEHSANA, NORTH GUJARAT

The purpose of the present assessment is intending to study the diversity and distribution of avifauna in the three selected sites of the Mehsana district, Northern Gujarat, India from the year 2015 to 2019. Data collection was done with a visual encounter survey method at random 04 days per season by four man-hours. A total of 113 species of birds distributed in 19 order, 54 families and 100 genera were recorded from the three sites. Among all the sites, a significant number of genera and species recorded from Chimnabai Lake. According to International Union for Conservation of Nature, a total of 104 species of recorded avifauna is Least Concern, 02 species (Sarus Crane and White-naped Tit) were Vulnerable and 07 species were Nearly Threatened. 12 species from Appendix II and one species (Indian Peafowl) from Appendix III as per the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species database. A total of 90 species from Schedule IV, 08 species from Schedule I and one species (House crow) from Schedule V category under the conservation of Wildlfie Protection Act, 1972. Migratory status shows that a significant number of common resident birds were present in all the sites. This might suggest that these habitats are very important for the preservation of the avifaunal community in the study area.