Assessment of Bird Population in Different Habitats of Agricultural Ecosystem

Abstract

The study was carried out in Vanavarayar Institute of agriculture, Manakkadavu, Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India during January, 2012 to January, 2013. The institute's agricultural area classified four different habitats namely, crop land, wetland, plantations, and fallow land. The data were analyzed using Shannon-Wiener function formula; species diversity (H), maximum diversity (Hmax), and evenness (J). Based on this study we found variations in bird population distribution based on the cropping pattern and seasons of the year. Shannon-Wiener Index for diversity richness for different habitats of agroecosystem shows that fallow land recorded highest diversity (3.4619) and maximum diversity index (4.1271) compared to other habitats. Thus, fallow lands are not subject to practices of crop production and therefore supported bird's nesting and breeding. Thus, most of the birds hunt their food from agricultural field and from water bodies and made their rest place at fallow land; therefore it indicates highest number of species in all the seasons of the year. Rare birds like Indian grey hornbill, yellow - footed green pigeon, common tern, paradise flycatcher, black headed ibis, white browed bulbul, striated heron, and barn owl were observed in particular season shows the richness of the habitats in the study area. The considerable numbers of trees in fallow land and boundary of agricultural land accommodate the large number of bird's population. Thus planting trees in agricultural lands can increase bird population.