Study of Avian Diversity in and around Chinari, District Hattian, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

MASAUD, N1., AWAN, M.S1., MINHAS, R.A1 ., DAR, N. I2.,AND ALI, U3.1Department of Zoology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 2Wildlife and Fisheries Department of AJ&K, 3Department of Environmental Science, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi

INTRODUCTIONBird

Warm blooded animals, body covered by feathers, lay egg, evolved million of years ago

Occurrence Found all over the world, from Arctic to Kalahari

and Africa to Himalayan forests. Tolerate extreme weather conditions.

Diversity About 10,000 species found all over the world. Of them 1400 species are found in Asia. 688 species listed in Pakistan. 200 reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

Continued….Importance

Important insect predators.Game animals.Provide esthetic pleasure (eco-tourism)

Migration19% of the total bird species are

migratory.Migrate for long distance, non-stop over

seas, from north pole to south pole.Some fly as high as 20,000 feet above the

sea level.Migratory route of Pakistan is called

Green Route or Route No. 4.

OBJECTIVESTo enlist and describe existing bird’s

species and their abundance in the study area.

To compare species richness and species abundance between study sites and different seasons.

To calculate the Shannon-wiener index of avian fauna in and around Chinari.

Developing GIS based information regarding species richness and species abundance of bird’s fauna.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study AreaChinari is situated on 34o08'34.292-

09'19.89'' NL and 73o50'16.26''-58'34.01''E at an elevation of 1066-1539 m.

Qazinaag Game Reserve. Temperature of study area ranges

between 1.1-35.5˚C with average rainfall of 330.7 mm annually.

Map of the study area showing study sites surveyed during study period

Continued….The important vegetation of the area

includes Pinus wallichiana, Cedrus deodara, Picea smithiana, Abies pindrow, Taxus wallichiana, Acer caesium, Aesculus indica, Acacia modesta etc.

The important shrubs of the area include Berberis lycium, Indigofera gerardiana, Lonicera quinquilocularis, Parrotia jacquemontiana etc.

Methodology

Transect WalkPoint CountFor Larger habitat, radius was 50 m.For Smaller habitat, radius was 25m.

Sighting Early in the morning at 5:30 am during spring,

5:00 am during summer and 6:00 am during autumn.

Before evening at 4:30 p.m. during spring, 6:30 p.m. during summer and 6:00 p.m. during autumn.

Results and DiscussionA total of 72 bird species belonging to 13 orders

and 39 families were observed and identified.

Over all relative abundance was recorded highest for Common myna (0.005) and lowest for Common starling (0.001).

Species richness was recorded highest in summer (n=54) followed by autumn (46) and spring (n=40).

Species abundance was highest during summer (316) followed by spring (311) and autumn (280).

Continued….Out of 72 species, 69% belonged to order

Passariformes followed by Coraciformes (5.5%), Columbiformes, Strigifarmes (4.16% both), Psitassiformes, Accipitiformes, Faolconiformes, Charadiformes (2.77% of each), Piciformes, Galliformes, Apodiformes, Cuculiformes and Carimulyiformes (1.3% each).

The prominent bird species includes, Wagtail, Kingfisher, Bulbul, Doves, Crows, Warbler, Vultures, Chats, Thrushes, Woodpecker, Flycatcher, Nuthatches, Magpie, Tree pie, Swallows and leaf birds.

Fig 3 Percentage relative abundance of bird species belonging to different orders recorded during the year 2009

Fig 4 Species richness of bird’s species recorded during different seasons of the year 2009

Fig 5 Species abundance curve among study sites surveyed during the year 2009

Fig 6 Species richness curve among study sites surveyed during the year 2009

Map 2 showing compression between species richness and abundance in different sites of the study area during study period.

Fig 7 Abundance of bird’s species recorded during different seasons of the year 2009

Map 3 showing the compression of species richness between different seasons at different sites of the study area during 2009.

Fig 8 Diversity indices of different seasons recorded during the year 2009

Seasonal Shannon-wiener index of these species were recorded highest (4.95) in summer season followed by spring (4.2) and autumn.

Fig 9 Migration status of bird’s species along with their percentages recorded during the year 2009

Of the total 8 (11.1%) species were resident birds, 9 (12.5%) species were resident confined to Himalayan ecosystem, 7 (9.72%) species were summar visitors, 5 (6.94%) species were winter visitor, 12 (16.6%) species showed seasonal altitudinal migration while remaining 30 (41.6%) species were confined to Himalayan ecosystem.

Fig 10 Population status of bird’s species along with their percentages recorded during the year 2009

The population status is calculated as 50 (69%) species were common, 4 (5.55%) species were abundant, and 9 (1.25%) species were rare while the remaining 9 (1.25%) species were frequent.

Plate 1 Natural habitat at Garmanda

Plate 2 Grey tit sitting on tree of apple at Gujar bandi

Plate 3 Himalayan Griffon vultures sitting on tree at Tillikot

Plate 4 Kestral (Falco tinunculus) sitting in verandah at Chakhamma

Plate 5 Pair of Hoopoe sitting on ground at Gojar-bandi

Plate 6 Blossom headed parakeet sitting on tree at Qazinag

Plate 7 Paradise flycatcher sitting on tree at Tillikot

Plate 8 Yellow wagtail sitting on grass at Kathai

Plate 9 Large pied wagtail sitting on ground at Gojar bandi

Plate 10 White cheeked bulbul searching food in water

Plate 11 Bulbul sitting on Rose plant at Chumm

Plate 12 Golden fronted leaf bird sitting on tree at Gojjar-bandi

Plate 13 Leaf bird sitting on tree at Kathai

Plate 14 Himalayan tree creeper sitting on bark of tree at Tillikot

Plate 15 Whistling thrush sitting in a pot at Garmanda

Plate 16 Pied Bush Chat sitting on tree of (Accasia Arabica) at Kathai

Plate 17 Grey shrike sitting on wire at Gojar bandi

Plate 19 Jungle crow sitting on bark of tree

Plate 20 Common mynas sitting on rock at Tillikot

Plate 21 Grey tit sitting on tree of apple at Gujar bandi

Conclusion A significant difference in the biomass

of the birds between the different seasons of the year, 2009.

The availability of food may be one of the cause of this variation.

Breeding in summer season could be an important source of variation and higher diversity index in summer.

Migration from higher altitudes towards lower decrease diversity index in winter.

Continued….Besides natural vegetation, cultivated

areas are important source for the diversity of avian fauna in the study area.

Most of the birds depend on the food in the form of seeds, grains, weeds or insects hence they are closer to the agricultural lands.

Due to different requirements of food and space, the interspecific and intraspecific competition seemed within the bearable limits.

Continued….Destruction of the habitats resulted

in the eradication of some species like golden oriole, vultures, and rollers and have migrated to higher elevations, vegetated and undistributed areas around Chinari.

Recommendations Research collaboration should be built between

Wildlife Department AJK and Department of Zoology, the University of AJK to carry out detailed surveys for the proper management and of wildlife species of the area.

Some endangered and vulnerable species (Cheer pheasant and Westren horned tragopon) categorized under international conservation status are present in the study area. It is therefore, pertinent that protection and conservation programms for the area should be based on the presence of these species.

Thank You