Studies on nesting colonies of heronry birds in Bhavnagar City, Gujarat, India Gohel Tanvi, Chaudhari Tamanna, Dodia Pravinsang, Shukla Ashish, Solanki Devendra* Post Graduate Center of Zoology, Zoology DepartmentSir P. P. Institute of Science Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar-364 002, India *E-mail:devsolanki@mail.com
Online published on 9 March, 2021. Abstract Heronry birds mostly prefer the wetland ecosystem for their breeding activities. However, many of those utilize urban ecosystems for their nesting activities as they found suitable breeding habitats viz. dense tree colonies within city areas. To deliver inputs into the habitat management and conservation of these birds, number of nests of heronry birds in the urban environment of the Bhavnagar city, Gujarat, were examined. The identification of potential nesting grounds and counting of nets of five heronry bird species (Painted stork, Black-headed Ibis, Red-naped ibis, Eurasian spoonbill, Little cormorant) was done in eight potential habitats of the Bhavnagar city area. This surveying activity carried out from June 2017 to May 2018. The peak breeding season of selected water birds was observed from late summer (April-May) to winter (January-February). A total of 506 nests were counted from the study areas which shows proximity to water bodies and among these 33% were observed from Krishnakumarsinhji Town Hall followed by 30% from Manila bag. Principle trees such as Azadirachtin indica, Peltophorum pterocarpum, Polyalthia longifolia and Syzygium cumini observed to prefer by water birds. Relationship between tree height and number of nests, co-occurrence of nesting of water birds and their behavior to build nests near water bodies were studied. Top Keywords Nesting ecology, Heronry birds, Nesting tree, Bhavnagar city. Top |