The checklist of birds of Rajkot district, Gujarat, India with a note on probable local extinction

Abstract

Rajkot District in Gujarat, India harbours abundant avifauna, yet systematic checklists of this region are lacking. Here we present a checklist of bird in key habitats both natural and man-made, including grasslands, open lands with scattered scrub forests, wetlands (urban lakes) and reservoirs in Rajkot District. We report 348 species of birds belonging to 74 families and 22 orders, of which 281 species were observed by us during the survey and 67 species were compiled from published literature. Species recorded were from the orders Passeriformes (140), Charadriiformes (50), Accipitriformes (28), Anseriformes (19), and Pelecaniformes (19); 316 species were classed as Least Concern (LC), 18 Near Threatened (NT), eight Vulnerable (VU), two Endangered (EN), and four Critically Endangered (CR) as per IUCN. One-hundred-and-forty-six species are resident, 138 winter visitors, 13 monsoon migrants, 12 vagrants, 12 local migrant, and the rest have multiple migratory status. With regards to habitat suitability, 116 species are aquatic (wetland dependant), 67 open land, 66 forest, 19 grassland, and the remainder show overlaps in habitat preference. A total of 124 species are found to breed in Rajkot District. It is important to note that 17 species have not been sighted in and around Rajkot District since 1990, hence they are listed as locally extinct, along with four Data Deficient species.