Aythya Ferina Research Articles

Long-term population trends reveal increasing importance of a Mediterranean wetland complex (Messolonghi lagoons, Greece) for wintering waterbirds

The aim of this study was to present the first detailed analysis of long-term population estimates and trends of waterbirds wintering at Messolonghi lagoons, one of the largest Greek wetlands, during 1982 to 2012, using TrendSpotter software. The wetland supported on average 63,054 ± 22,241 (SD) birds (range 29,630 to 109,795), with waterfowl and their allies being the most abundant group, by both species and numbers. Over 70% of the 28 most abundant species (19 waterfowl, 9 waders) were increasing (14 waterfowl, 6 waders), 4 waterfowl were decreasing, 3 species remained stable (1 waterfowl, 2 waders) and 1 wader could not be assessed. In total, waterfowl increased by 2%, waders increased by 4% and the overall species assemblage increased by 2.2% over the 31-year period. The wetland is of international importance for waterbirds in general and for Eurasian wigeon Anas penelope and Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus specifically. In addition, 7 other species (6 waterfowl, 1 wader) currently exceed the 1% flyway population threshold and could also be considered as of international importance in the future. Long-term increases in the numbers of most waterbirds were detected, and internationally important populations were identified, thus highlighting Messolonghi lagoons' increasing significance for wintering waterbirds over the past 31 years. Piscivores (i.e. pelicans, cormorants, herons and egrets), flamingos and small waders showed the strongest increases in numbers. In contrast, common pochard Aythya ferina and tufted duck Aythya fuligula showed the greatest declines. In most species, population trends followed those occurring at the flyway level, suggesting that regional or international rather than local factors may be mainly responsible.

Understanding and Analysing the Coordinates of Diversity of Wetland Birds of Asan Barrage near Paonta Sahib, Northern India

The winter migratory wetland bird’s diversity of Asan barrage, Uttarakhand, India has been studied during 2005-2012. A total 60 species of wetland birds belonging to 6 orders and 13 families were observed. The findings also hints that Rudy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea is the most dominant bird followed by Common Coot Fulica atra, Red-crested Pochard Rhodonessa rufina, Common Pochard Aythya ferina and Mallard Anas platyrhynchos. It was observed that Rudy Shelduck preferred Yamuna River waters rather than the traditional still pools, ponds, reservoirs etc. The same trend was displayed by Red-crested Pochard and Great-crested Grebe. On the contrary, winter migratory birds like Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Common Teal Anas crecca etc were found least in number at Asan Barrage but found in impressive numbers in Haryana traditional pools, ponds.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/on.v11i2.9599 Our Nature 2013, 11(2): 192-200

Waterfowl Community and Protective Value at Gangjin Bay in Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea

This study conducted the total six times of survey at Gangjin Bay in Gyeongsangnamdo from June in 2012 to March in 2013. The number of waterfowl observed during the survey period was the total of 48 species and 17,799 individuals for the maximum number of individuals. The most dominant species was Aythya marila (37.0%), followed by Aythya ferina (28.8%). The monthly appearance species (appearance rate of 100%) was recorded as 7 species including Anas poecilorhyncha, Ardea cinerea, Egretta alba modesta, Egretta garzetta, Falco tinnunculus, Larus crassirostris, and Larus ridibundus. The legally protected species was found to be total 8 species including Endangered Species I (2 species), II (5 species), and natural monument (6 species). The mudflat grade for birds showed high protective value with II grade, which was the same grade as at Gangjin Bay and Muan Bay in Jeollanamdo. Therefore, it is suggested to prepare for the plan to protect and manage waterfowls and ducks at Gangjin Bay areas during the wintering season.

Spatio-temporal dynamics in waterbirds during the non-breeding season: Effects of local movements, migration and weather are monthly, not yearly

Predicting population sizes and dynamics of mobile organisms is important for trend estimation, but this is difficult when the origin of individuals cannot be determined, i.e. residents and migrants are indistinguishable in the field.Here we examine fluctuations in populations during the non-breeding season (autumn to spring) of seven waterbird species, which co-occur on 122 neighbouring water bodies in south-west Germany. We asked whether site-level abundance patterns can be predicted by weather variables, and whether these effects vary over months and years. We used a spatially explicit hidden Markov model to estimate the effects of local and regional movement on population fluctuations.Although the species varied in their dynamics, with different amounts of movement estimated between sites, several patterns were common across species: density effects were highly month-specific, but with little variation in the strength of effects over years. The abundance of most species was positively related to temperature, especially in winter.The common teal Anas crecca and common pochard Aythya ferina were the most site-fidelic species once they were present in the study area, but also exhibited the strongest regional migration. The mallard Anas platyrhynchos, tufted duck Aythya fuligula and great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus each behaved more like a single population, as individuals more frequently moved between sites and abundance fluctuations at sites were not explained by migratory movements alone.Our study shows that the strength of population parameters and environmental forces can be decomposed into monthly and yearly effects. Estimating the unknown origin and movement of individuals may show that commensurate populations of mobile species may have different underlying dynamics, while responding similarly to environmental factors.

Phil Hockey (1956-2013)

Phil Hockey (1956-2013)

Conspecific Brood Parasitism and Host Clutch Size in Common PochardsAythya ferina

Conspecific brood parasitism is an alternative reproductive tactic in which parasitic females lay eggs into the nests of other females of the same species who carry out the subsequent parental care. Conspecific brood parasitism is reported to be common among birds, however detailed information about rates of parasitism based on molecular identification of alien eggs at the population level is still scarce. Here, we used protein fingerprinting of egg albumen to identify eggs laid by parasites in a breeding population of Common Pochard Aythya ferina. Among 42 nests sampled during 3 field seasons, 162 eggs out of 432 (37.5%) were classified as parasitic. Conspecific brood parasitism occurred in total in 39 nests (93%). Average clutch size was about 10 eggs. However, after exclusion of parasitic eggs, the clutch size decreased to about 6 eggs. The number of parasitic females ranged from 1 to 7 and the mean number of parasitic females per clutch was 2.53 ± 0.28. We found a significant negative correlation between the number of parasitic eggs within a clutch and the timing of breeding — parasites laid most of the eggs before the estimated peak of initiated nests. In addition, number of parasitic eggs was negatively related to number of host eggs in the clutch. This observation implies that cost of excessive parasitism might cause clutch size adjustment in the host but other possible explanations are discussed.

Ringing and recovery data prove poor at detecting migratory short-stopping of diving ducks associated with climate change throughout Europe

Climate change has been shown to affect the distribution of many bird species. International Waterbird Census (IWC) data revealed that Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula and Goldeneye Bucephala clangula have shifted their European wintering distributions northeastwards as a direct response to increased winter temperatures. We tested whether it was possible to detect this shift in the wintering distribution of these species as well as Pochard Aythya ferina, using ringing and recovery data. Goldeneye conformed to our hypothesis, with its recovery distances decreasing significantly by about 400 km from the southwest to northeast from 1950 onwards, but this change could not be linked to winter temperatures. Conversely, Tufted Duck directly violated our hypothesis with its recovery distances increasing significantly by about 400 km but again this change could not be explicitly linked to winter temperatures. Pochard in contrast exhibited no change in its recovery distances. Thus, of the three species examined, ringing recoveries showed no trend in one species and of the two species where migratory short-stopping has been well described, one exhibited contraction whilst the other an apparent expansion in recovery distances. We conclude that ringing and recovery data provide little utility in detecting changes in migratory behaviour of these waterbirds.

Discussing implications of fast depleting rural ponds on the globally threatened wetland winter migratory bird in Haryana: a Case Study of Nigdu village pond in Karnal District

The Nigdu-Sarovar is located in Nilokheri block in Karnal district in Haryana (29°50°N, 76°55°E). The duration of observations span over seven years (September, 2005 to March, 2012). The recording of wetland winter visitor birds during 2005-08 in winter season included atleast 58 species of birds belonging to 10 orders and 18 families. It is important to mention that 29 species of wetland birds were winter migratory, 17 residents, 9 local migratory and three species of wetland birds like Lesser-whistling Duck Dendrocygna javanica, Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus and Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Merops persicus were summer migratory. The special features of 2005-06 winter was the huge populations of birds like Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Common Teal Anas crecca, Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhynchus, Common Pochard Aythya ferina, Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus, Greylag Goose Anser anser, Gadwall Anas strepera, Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Mallard Anas platyrhynchos and Common Redshank Tringa totanus etc.In successive years, the scenario was more or less a substantial one depicting stability with respect to diversity of birds, number of birds upto the year of 2008. The popular birds included Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala, Openbill Stork Anastomus oscitans, White-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus, Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer and Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrines. The sharp decline in winter migratory birds at Nigdu-Sarovar started in the year of 2008 when the pond was leased out for FISH-FARMING as per the policies of Govt. of Haryana. Fish Farming based deepening of the pond by excavation of bottom resulting in total decimation of rooted, floating, submerged and ejecting plants along with its subsidiary fauna, Zooplanktons, phytoplankton etc. The age old structural regime of the pond was obliterated to turn it in a scientifically managed fish pond. The year of 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 (March, 2012) showed the total absence of migratory birds like Mallards, several Geese, Dabbling Ducks, Pochards and Teals etc. As of today (2012), the sarovar is a clean sheet of water with bird repelling devices installed in places.

High rates of conspecific brood parasitism revealed by microsatellite analysis in a diving duck, the common pochard Aythya ferina

Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) is a reproductive tactic whereby a parasitic female lays its eggs into the nests of other conspecific females. Genetic‐based data on the occurrence of CBP in birds, however, is still relatively scarce. We analysed prevalence of CBP in a ground‐nesting diving duck, the common pochard Aythya ferina, using a set of 17 microsatellites. Compared to related species, our population showed a relatively high level of CBP, with 39% of genotyped pochard eggs laid parasitically and 89% of nests containing ≥ 1 parasitic egg. In addition, we observed relatively high rates of interspecific brood parasitism (13% of eggs), caused predominantly by mallard Anas plathyrhynchos and tufted duck Aythya fuligula. CBP eggs had decreased hatching success compared to host eggs, with 65% of CBP and 95% of non‐CBP genotyped eggs hatching successfully. Our data suggest that this was probably due to improper timing of parasitic egglaying, which compromised synchronised hatching of CBP and host‐eggs. Despite high rates of CBP in our pochard popu lation, fitness costs associated with this reproductive tactic appear to be low for host females since neither clutch size nor host‐egg hatching probability were reduced due to CBP.

Individual turnover in common pochards wintering in western France

AbstractStudying movements and population turnover is a prerequisite of management and conservation policies. Understanding the relative importance of known wintering sites requires estimating total number of birds using a wintering site with robust statistical methods because counts alone do not account for turnover. To study movements of common pochards (Aythya ferina) during winter (Oct to Mar) in western France, we used a combination of band‐recoveries and capture–recapture data. We constructed a multi‐state model to estimate monthly local survival and probability of movements between the banding site and other wintering sites, accounting for individual sex and age. We observed significant movements between sites and high population turnover even during winter. We did not detect any effect of age or sex on movement probabilities, except at the beginning of the winter when first‐year individuals had a lower emigration probability. This result suggests that these inexperienced birds did not explore the wintering area like adults, at least early in the season. Combining our estimates (survival and emigration) and winter counts data, we computed the number of individuals using our study area throughout winter. This total was twice the maximum number of individuals counted in winter. Unexpectedly, low estimates for apparent survival suggest that permanent emigration occurred; although, recaptures and resightings revealed some birds traveled long distances from the capture site. We hypothesize that this permanent emigration was due to birds moving to areas where observation and hunting pressures were reduced compared to those in the French territory. If this hypothesis is true, high turnover rate would prevail not only at the scale of the wetland but also at the scale of the country. © The Wildlife Society, 2013

Dix années de suivi des anatidés nicheurs sur le lac de Sidi Boughaba (Nord-ouest Marocain) : Situation, tendances d’évolution et perspectives de recherche

Ten-year survey of breeding Anatidae of Lake Sidi Boughaba (North-western Marocco) : status, tendencies of change and avenues for future research. A ten years survey of duck species was carried out in the Ramsar site and Important Bird Area (IBA) of Sidi Boughaba. No such survey has ever been conducted before in Morocco to study the change in number of breeding duck species in the country. Overall results have shown the appearance of new breeding species in the site : Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina), Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) and White-Headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala). Other species have become more regular like Gadwall (Anas strepera) and Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) while the vulnerable Marbled Teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris) and the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) continue to breed in this wetland with numbers that remain stable though the numbers of females with ducklings are decreasing in these two species. The number of breeding ducks species in this wetland is the highest in Morocco and in the Maghreb. The overall results showed that the numbers of Gadwall, Red-crested Pochard, Common Pochard and Ferruginous Duck are markedly increasing following the same expansion patterns at both regional and Mediterranean levels. The initiation of similar researches on other wetlands is essential to assess the abundance of duck populations and indicate trends of this breeding waterfowl group at larger scales.

Determination of Newcastle disease virus among wild bird populations in Lake Van basin, Turkey

In this study, 540 feces samples taken from a total of 22 bird species, including transit migrant, winter visitor, migratory, and resident bird species, in Lake Van basin were examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with respect to the Newcastle disease virus (NDV). All of the feces samples were cultured in specific pathogen-free embryonated chicken eggs (ECEs) for NDV isolation. The NDV isolates were analyzed for virulent fusion (F) protein by RT reverse transcription PCR (RRT-PCR). Of the 540 examined feces samples, 28 (5.18%) were found to be positive by RT-PCR. The same samples were cultured in ECEs and, of those, 9 (1.66%) were positive for NDV isolations. Of the isolates, 7 were obtained from the migrant waterfowls Phoenicopterus ruber, Anas clypeata, Aythya ferina, and Aythya fuligula and 2 were from the resident species Columba livia. The RRT-PCR F protein was determined in 1 isolate belonging to Aythya ferina; this strain was typed as mesogenic/velogenic avian paramyxovirus type 1 and the other 8 isolates as lentogenic. In this study, we investigated, for the first time, the presence of NDV in wild, seemingly healthy bird feces from areas in Lake Van basin, in Turkey.

Analysis of avian-biodiversity in rural wetland environs in Panipat district in Haryana, India

The present study has observed 67 species of wetland birds, belonging to, 10 orders and 18 families from rural wetland Environs in Panipat district located at a distance of 90 KMs north of Delhi on National Highway No.1 (29.39°N 76.97°E) in Haryana, India. Out of 67 species, 35 species were winter migrants, 18 residents, 10 local migrants and four species were summer migrants. Peculiar species of birds recorded in Panipat rural ponds are Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala, White-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus, Asian openbill- Stork Anastomusoscitans, Lesser Adjutant Stork Leptoptilos javanicus, Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, Oriental White Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus, Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa, Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus, Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Brahminy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea, Comb Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos, Tufted Pochard Aythya fuligula and Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus. On the other hand, familiar species include amongst others, Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus, Common Coot Fulica atra, Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Common Teal Anas crecca, Common Pochard Aythya ferina, Gadwall Anas strepera and Lesser-whistling Duck Dendrocygna javanica etc. Longest stay during winter season was demonstrated by birds like Northern Shoveller, Northern Pintail, Bar-headed Goose, Greylag Goose and Rudy Shelduck, whereas shortest winter sojourn was observed in case of Mallard, Eurasian Wigeon and Common Pochard. It is interesting to note that migratory birds like Northern Shoveller, Northern Pintail, Common Teal, Bar-headed Goose, Tufted Pochard, and Common Pochard come to Panipat rural ponds from very far off places like Central Russia, Caspian USSR, Siberia, Ladhakh and Central Asia, West and Central Asia and Siberia respectively.

Assessing the extent to which temporal changes in waterbird community composition are driven by either local, regional or global factors

ABSTRACT Lough Neagh and Lough Beg Special Protection Area (SPA, hereafter Lough Neagh) is an important non‐estuarine site in Britain and Ireland for overwintering wildfowl. Multivariate analysis of the winter counts showed a state‐shift in the waterbird community following winter 2000/2001, mostly due to rapid declines in abundance (46–57% declines in the mean mid‐winter January counts between 1993–2000 and 2002–2009) of members of the diving duck guild (pochard Aythya ferina, tufted duck Aythya fuligula and goldeneye Bucephala clangula) and coot (Fulica atra), a submerged macrophyte feeder. Only pochard showed correlations between declines at Lough Neagh and those of overall species flyway population indices to suggest that global changes could contribute to declines at the site. However, indices from the Republic of Ireland showed no overall decline in the rest of Ireland. Tufted duck indices at the site were inversely related to indices in Great Britain. Lough Neagh goldeneye indices were positively correlated with indices in the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain, suggesting that short‐stopping could contribute to declines at the site. Coot declines at Lough Neagh did not correlate with trends elsewhere, suggesting local factors involved in the decline. These analyses indicate that although there are potentially different explanations for the dramatic declines in these four waterbird species at this site, the simultaneous nature of the declines across two feeding guilds strongly suggest that local factors (such as loss of submerged macrophytes and benthic invertebrates) were involved. An assessment of the food supply, local disturbance and other factors at Lough Neagh is required to find an explanation for the observed adverse trends in wintering numbers of the affected species. This study highlights the potential of waterbird community structure to reflect the status of aquatic systems, but confirms the need to establish site‐specific factors responsible for the observed changes in abundance of key waterbird species at a site.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hybrids of Aythya: unusual concentration on the Po river in Turin (NW Italy)

The confluence between Po and Stura di Lanzo rivers in Turin (NW Italy) is one of the most important wintering sites in North West Italy for diving ducks. The most interesting species are Pochard, Aythya ferina, and Tufted duck, Aythya fuligula. A subject with hybrid traits was observed for the first time in winter 2002-2003. Hybrids number were exceptionally high in winter 2006-2007 when the percentage was 5 per 1000 of the total wintering birds.

Description Of Avian Bio-Diversity Of Damdamma Jheel In Gurgaon District In Haryana, India

Damdamma Jheel is a wetland of impressive potentials of harboring rich avian bio-diversity in the accompaniment of enhanced habitat reconstruction and improvement. It is located in the National Capital Region, nearby Sohana town in Gurgaon district in Haryana merely 45 Kms from Dhaula Kuan in New Delhi. At present, compared to Sultanpur National Park, it is confronting neglect. Considering its positive features of terrain, water sheet, it has the qualities of being a rich habitat for birds of all hues including the winter migratory birds. The present studies focus attention on its avian biodiversity as well as its own degraded form and structure. In all, 128 species of birds belonging to 15 orders and 41 families could be enlisted. Order Passeriformes is the predominant one having 54 species, followed by Charadriiformes (14 Species) and Ciconiiformes (12 Species). The prominent winter migratory birds observed from Damdamma Jheel include Asian Openbill Stork Anastomus oscitans , Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia , Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata , Northern Pintail Anas acuta , Common Teal Anas crecca , Common Pochard Aythya ferina , Gadwall Anas strepera , Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha , Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus , Common Redshank Tringa tetanus, Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia , Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus , White-tailed Lapwing Vanellus leucurus , Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis , Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola , Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos , White Wagtail Motacilla alba and Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava . The lake is suffering from water scarcity considering its capacity and potential to have more water. The periphery towards east is plagued by the growth of peats. The very fact that in October 2012, a large group of Openbill Stork (Nearly 70-80) has already arrived at Damdamma Lake since September-2012 indicates that it is the largest HARBOUR of Open-bill Stork in Haryana. Also, Eurasian Spoonbills were seen in a group 10-12, again the largest in Haryana. It is argued in this paper, that Damdamma is the pride lake of Haryana and prime harbor for uncommon winter migratory birds like Open-bill Stork and Eurasian Spoonbill must be the prime place for habitat reconstruction by Ministry of Environment and Forest, Govt. of India in conjunction with Govt. of Haryana with the active contributions by WWF (India) to add to the might vastness of this lake an element of grace and glory so as to conserve the winter migratory birds during their sojourn in India. In addition, it will be one nodal point to include Sultanpur National Park, Badkhal Lake, Bhindawas and Keoladeo National Park as an eco-tourism rectangle with provision for night halt.

Movements of wintering diving ducks: new insights from nasal saddled individuals

Capsule In winter diving ducks commonly move between wetlands more than 100 km apart, but short-distance daily movements dominate their activity. Aims To describe the movements of Common Pochards Aythya ferina and Tufted Ducks Aythya fuligula during the wintering season in France and to investigate intrinsic and extrinsic factors potentially affecting the direction and distance of these movement. Methods Distances, directions and patterns/strategies of winter movements were assessed from a combination of encounter data: physical recaptures at the ringing site, re-sightings of individuals fitted with nasal saddles, and ring recoveries of dead individuals. Results Patterns of movements derived from multiple locations (i.e. successive re-sightings) of individuals could be assessed, showing that several ‘strategies’ may coexist in the same species (residency, exploitation of two wintering sites with or without return journey, and exploration of several sites). Individuals may use several sites more than 100 km apart during a given winter. Interestingly, directions of movements did not fit any previously observed pattern, especially in Common Pochards, whose movements tended to be biased towards the northeast at the beginning of the wintering season (October–November) whereas south or southwest movements were expected. Weather conditions in winter affected directions of movements in Common Pochards; eastwards movements towards ice-free Alpine lakes were more frequently observed during cold spells. Conclusion Overall, our results suggest that exchanges of birds between wetlands more than 100 km apart are rather common even though short-distance movements related to daily activities are dominant. Our study provides new insights into the potential origin of ducks suspected of spreading infectious diseases.

Documentation of avian diversity of Khaparwas Bird Sanctuary in Jhajjar district in Haryana, India

Khaparwas is a designated Bird Sanctuary under the administrative control of Wildlife Department of Government of Haryana in India vide notification dated 27th March, 1991. Its total area is 204.36 Acres. During the study period of four years (1997-2002), a total of 164 species of birds belonging to 16 Orders, 44 families were recorded from the Khaparwas bird Sanctuary in Jhajjar district in Haryana, India. Out of 164 species of birds, 104 species were residents, 45 species were winter migratory, 9 species of birds local migratory, 5 species were summer migratory and one species of bird was Straggler. In so far as, Abundance Status is concerned, 64 species of birds were Occasional, 60 species Common and 40 species were Uncommon. Birds like Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa, Jungle Bush Quail Perdicula asiatica, Red Jungle Fowl Gallus gallus, Eurasian Curlews Numenius arquata, Eurasian Eagle Owl Bubo bubo, and Stork Billed Kingfisher Halcyon capensis were observed as specific to this area. Prominent migratory birds like Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope, Garganey Anas querquedula, Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha, Common Teal Anas crecca, Common Pochard Aythya ferina, Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus, Eurasian Curlew, Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago and Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia were recorded in winter season only. In view of the present studies, it is strongly recommended that Khaparwas Bird Sanctuary in Jhajjar district in Haryana must be conserved in a better way, due to its proximity to Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary and Keoldeo National Park in Rajasthan and the rich avian diversity observed in present studies. Khaparwas has the potential to occupy a National Character as a Sanctuary.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v6i1.5597

TRADITIONAL RURAL WETLANDS IN HARYANA STATE OF INDIA ARE CURRENTLY CONFRONTING MULTICORNERED THREATS LEADING TO EXTINCTION SOONER THAN LATER

The most serious threat to traditional rural ponds in Haryana is associated with transformed societal behavioural patterns, ethics, values and life style, amongst several others. The siltation of ponds with adjoining areas, soil coming in with rain water is a very serious cause of stratification of rural ponds. Also contracting of village community land for sun drying of cow dung cakes inspires villagers to overload periphery of each pond with cow dung turning the premises into grave-yard of dung. This dung is the major source of polluting pond water into blackish water with high load of organic matter. Moreover, it leads to over excessive eutrophication. Building of major highways and connectivity roads have resulted into compartmentalization and degradation of village ponds. Inhabitation of peripheral village ponds boundaries by lower section of society for dwelling purposes is more threat to wetlands. The indifferent inclination of villagers towards silted ponds drenched in bad odour and blackish sludge is the story of 80% of the cases. The total blockage of run-off rainy water towards the natural age old rural ponds due to obstruction by way of human inhabitation has resulted into desertification of shallow water sheet in 90% of the cases. The oblivion of harvesting dried silt in summer for brick making has spelled doom for the ponds turning them into flat ground through successive decades and so on. The water quality in all ponds was overshooting the decaying stage due to the continuous mixing of cow dung drenched rainy water. Over excessive usage of ponds for bathing of cattle, dumping of cow dung and rotten vegetables waste has turned ponds into live sinks of dirt, garbage and rural dairy wastes. Majority of village ponds are now out of existence or in deep black sludge laden or converted into Fish-Farming wetlands. The present studies have indicated that Winter migratory birds like Greylag Goose Anser anser, Bar-headed Goose Anser indicus, Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, Gadwall Anas strepera, Northern Shoveller Anas clypeata, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Garganey Anas querquedula, Common Teal Anas crecca, Common Pochard Aythya ferina, Tufted Pochard Aythya fuligula, Common Coot Fulica atra, Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius, Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrines, Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropus, Common Redshank Tringa tetanus, Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis, Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola and Pied Avocet Recurivirostra avosetta arrive in the extremely dilapidated rural ponds in Haryana from far off places including Russia, Siberia, China, and Caspian region, east Asia each winter season without any break. As such the extinction of ponds in Haryana directly threatens global avian biodiversity. Keywords: Traditional Rural Wetlands, Perennial Rainy Water, Road Side Puddles, Land Filling, Commercial and Residential Construction, Highway reconstruction

Commensal Foraging with Bewick's SwansCygnus bewickiiDoubles Instantaneous Intake Rate of Common PochardsAythya ferina

Aquatically foraging Bewick's Swans Cygnus bewickii have been repeatedly reported to be accompanied by diving ducks, but the exact nature of this relationship is unclear. Based on field observations, we found a strong correlation between the number of foraging swans and the number of foraging Common Pochards Aythya ferina and Tufted Ducks Aythya fuligula at our study site (Lauwersmeer, the Netherlands), with the median ratio being close to one diving duck per swan. To determine whether the association was kleptoparasitic or commensal, we measured in a series of experimental trials the instantaneous intake rates of Bewick's Swans and Common Pochards when foraging alone and when foraging together. On average, pochards in company with a swan attained twice the instantaneous intake rate as compared with foraging alone. This was mainly due to gleaning food items that floated away as a result of the swan's trampling activity, and was not due to stealing: in fact, food intake rates of swans were not affected by the presence of a pochard.