Seasonal Monitoring of Waterbirds of Khijadiya Wetland in Jamnagar District of Gujarat, India

Abstract

A study was conducted by Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation on waterbirds of Khijadiya Wetland from 2016 to 2018 covering all the major seasons. A total of 62 waterbird species were recorded that belonged to 16 families. Among all the families, maximum number (i.e., 13 species) of species belonged to the Anatidae family (i.e., the family of ducks, geese and swans) and Ardidae family (i.e., the family of herons, egrets and bitterns). Waterbird monitoring during different seasons indicated that Khijadiya wetland supported maximum species and population of waterbirds in winter. On the contrary, minimum waterbird species and population occurred during summer. This reveals that Khijadiya wetland has high utility for wintering migrants. The study has also indicated that maximum number (i.e., 20 species) of species occurred in shoreland habitat followed by saltpans (i.e., 12 species). From the view point of habitat wise number of species, the highest similarity was found between shoreland and saltpans. On the contrary, very less habitat similarity was found between open water habitat and water with floating-leaved aquatic vegetation (i.e., Nymphaea and Nelumbo covered water ). Keywords: Avifauna, Habitat, Khijadiya, Seasonal variation, Waterbirds, Wetland Cite this Article K. Joshi, K. Tatu, R.D. Kamboj RD. Seasonal Monitoring of Waterbirds of Khijadiya Wetland in Jamnagar District of Gujarat, India, Research & Reviews: Journal of Ecology 2018; 7(3): 16–22p.