Bird species richness and habitat guilds at isolated forest patch in Turahalli Minor Forest, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Abstract

Analyzing habitat preferences and foraging dynamics can be useful in understanding how birds adapt to changing physical environments. This is the first-ever study that was carried out on Avian feeding and Habitat guild of the Turahalli minor forest. Our study compares foraging patterns and habitat preferences among bird species by using One-way ANOVA, Tukey’s multiple comparison test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U tests. Observations based on habitat and diet affinities accounted for rich avian diversity with a total of 139 bird species recorded from five different habitats from October 2020 to November 2022. Large trees (95 species) harbored more species followed by shrub and thorny (30 species) and open ground (8 species). Bird assemblages were richer in large tree habitats and shrub and thorny habitats and findings showed that there was no significant difference in bird species richness between the habitats. Insectivorous species (39%) and carnivorous species (30%) exceeded other feeding guilds in the study area. Results of the study showed that different functional groups of avifauna behaved differently, primarily persuaded by choice of food. By providing birds with stable foraging, roosting, and nesting options, habitat heterogeneity supported avifaunal persistence.