A Preliminary Study to Assess the Avifaunal Diversity of Basohli Tehsil, District Kathua, J&K

Abstract

Birds act as important key component of the earth’s biodiversity. The main objective of the study was to assess the diversity of birds from three study sites of Basohli region of Kathua district selected for study for four months in 2023 (April-July). Data to assess the diversity were collected using two methods, line and point count techniques in the early morning (6:00-9:00 a.m.) and late afternoon (4:00-6:00 p.m.) in each of these sites for three consecutive days. During this study, a total of 20 species of birds were collected from the different locations belonging to 16 families viz. Pycnonotidae, Estrildidae, Sturnidae, Passeridae, Dicuridae, Corvidae, Hirundinidae, Leothrichidae, Lannidae, Icteridae, Paridae, Sittidae, Columbidae, Picidae, Megalaimidae, Psittaculidae and 5 orders viz. Passeriformes, Columbiformes, Piciformes, Psittaciformes, Pelcaniformes and it revealed the dominance of order Passeriformes with 15 species belonging to this order. However, the study area particularly comprised of human involvements and activities. More surveys and studies are required further to make a complete list of available bird species in these study sites for their conservation.