Gujarat: Birding Destination Par
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88 Indian BIRDS Vol. 6 Nos. 4&5 (Publ. 20 November 2010) Gujarat: birding destination par excellence Photos: J. K. Tiwari J. K. Tiwari Chhari-Dhand in the morning Tiwari, J. K., 2010. Gujarat: birding destination par excellence. Indian BIRDS 6 (4&5): 88–90. J. K. Tiwari, Centre for Desert and Ocean, Village Moti Virani, Kachchh, Gujarat 370665, India. Email: [email protected] Introduction Kachchh and the perennial waterbodies of Gujarat support large populations of resident and migratory waterbirds. Mangrove for- The landmass of Gujarat state (196,077 km2), with a coastline of ests of Kachchh and the Gulf of Kachchh provide not only the 1,650 km, and several offshore islands, plays a critically important spawning ground for fish and prawns but excellent mudflats and role in the ornithology of India. 490 spp. of birds have been listed estuarine habitat for coastal birds. from Gujarat, and its physical location invariably attracts new re- cords annually, e.g., the sightings of Caspian Plover, and Brown- breasted Flycatcher in 2009. Gujarat has four National Parks and 24 Wildlife Sanctuaries. The only Wetland Conservation Reserve of Gujarat is Chhari- Dhand in the Banni area of Kachchh district. Large scale nest- ing of Lesser- and Greater Flamingo from India has only been recorded from the Rann of Kachchh. Among large mammals, the Asiatic wild ass, and the Asiatic lion are now confined to Gujarat. 17 Important Bird Areas (IBA) have been listed from Gujarat by Islam & Rahmani (2004), e.g., Banni, Bhal, Charkala Salt Pan, Gir, ka lake, Khijadia nal Salrovar, Marine national Park Jamnagar, Naliya grasslands, Rampura grasslands, Thol lake, Salt pans of Bhavnagar, Velavadar, wetlands of Kheda, Wild Ass Sanctuary and Bhaskarpara wetland. Besides the protected areas there are a large number of habi- tats, like wetlands, grasslands, vidis, grazing lands and, temple Aristida grasslands Kachchh forests where birds find safe refuge in a state where vegetarian- ism is dominant, and people respect wildlife. Due to rapid in- dustrialisation and demographic expansion the bird habitats in Kachchh are exposed to tremendous anthropogenic pressures. Several habitats are under threat and need urgent attention, e.g., destruction of grasslands, and thorn forest in Kachchh. A variety of habitats The diverse wildlife habitat of the state, e.g., the Great, and Little Ranns of Kachchh (20,600 km2), the Banni grasslands (3,847 km2), 42 off-shore islands in the Gulf of Kachchh, the Marine National Park near Jamnagar, the dry deciduous forests of Gir and Barda Hills, the tropical thorn forest of Kachchh, Vijaynagar Polo, Ambaji-Balaram, and Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary, and the moist deciduous forest of southern Gujarat provide excellent habitats for the resident and migratory birds. The seasonal wetlands of Banni halophytes Suaeda Tiwari: Gujarat birding 89 Table 1. National Parks of Gujarat1 Year estab- Area Location Name lished [km2] Sasan Gir district: Gir National Park 1975 258.71 Junagadh Blackbuck Velavader district: 1976 34.08 National Park Bhavnagar Vansda National 1979 23.99 Vansda district: Navasari Park Marine National Gulf of Kachchh District: 1982 162.89 Park Jamnagar Great Rann Salt flats Photos: J. K. Tiwari Kachchh wilderness Thorn forest Kachchh Seasonal wetlands Kachchh Thorn forest in monsoon Kachchh The Aravalli Hills in northern Gujarat provide excellent habitat of the Western Ghats and shows many interesting species of flora for species like Scimitar Babblers, Bonelli’s Eagle, Green Avada- and fauna. vat, and over 200 spp., of birds; the Satpura and Vindhya Hills, The grasslands of Velavadar (34.08 km2) near Bhavnagar, in passing through eastern Gujarat, and the Sahyadri Hills, through the Bhal region, provide excellent habitat for the nesting of Lesser southern Gujarat, support unique birdlife. Florican. The grasslands host good populations of Black Buck and Gujarat has many perennial rivers, e.g., Narmada, Tapi, Sabar- Wolf. In winter, about 4,000 harriers of four species over-winter mati, Mahi, Daman Ganga, Purna, Ambika, and Bhadar, which in Velavadar (Clarke et al. 1998). provide excellent habitat for waders, waterfowl, and land birds. Marine National Park, is India’s first marine park, and is lo- The thick woodlands of the Dang forest, e.g., in Vansada Na- cated in the Gulf of Kachchh (Jamnagar district). There are 42 tional Park, support woodpeckers, Malabar Trogon, White-rumped islands off the Jamnagar coast, within this park, and most of them Shama, Indian Pitta, etc. The park is nestled along the boundary are surrounded by reefs, the most spectacular being Pirotan. 90 Indian BIRDS Vol. 6 Nos. 4&5 (Publ. 20 November 2010) Nalsarovar, near Ahmedabad, is an Table 1. National Parks of Gujarat1 important freshwater wetland that Year estab- Name Area [km2] Location supports thousands of migratory lished and resident birds. Gir Wildlife Sanctuary 1965 1153.42 Sasan Gir district: Junagadh, Amreli Wild Ass Sanctuary 1973 4953.70 Little Rann of Kachchh Some important avifauna Nal Sarovar district: Amdavad & Suren- The critically endangered Indian Nal Sarovar Birds Sanctuary 1969 120.82 dranagar Bustard is seen in the Naliya grass- lands (Kachchh). Grey Hypocolius Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary 1978 180.66 Jessore hill district: Banaskantha Hypocolius ampelinus, a migrant from the Middle East, is seen only Barda Wildlife Sanctuary 1979 192.31 Hingolgadh district: Rajkot in Fulay village, and near the Banni Hingolgadh Sanctuary 1980 6.54 Hingolgadh district: Rajkot area of Kachchh, and nowhere else in India. A major stronghold of the Marine Sanctuary 1980 295.03 Gulf of Kachchh district: Jamnagar Indian endemic parid, White-naped Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary 1981 444.23 Narayan Sarovar district: Kachchh Tit Parus nuchalis, is the tropical thorn forest of Kachchh district. Khijadia Bird Sanctuary 1981 6.05 Khijadia district: Jamnagar Stoliczka’s Bushchat Saxicola macrorhyncha is an endemic and Ratanmahal Sanctuary 1982 55.65 Ratanmahal district: Dahod vulnerable species that is seen in Kutch Desert Sanctuary 1986 7506.22 Great Rann of Kachchh the grasslands of Kachchh and Vela- vadar and on the fringes of the Little Gaga Wildlife Sanctuary 1988 3.33 Gaga district: Jamnagar Rann. Great White Pelican occasion- Rampara Sanctuary 1988 15.01 Rampara district: Rajkot ally breed in the Great Rann (Ali & Thol Lake Bird Sanctuary 1988 6.99 Thol district: Mahesana Ripley 1987; Grimmett et al. 1998). Kachchh (Banni around Chhari- Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary 1982 607.70 Narmada district Dhand mainly), and Saurashtra are Porbandar Birds Sanctuary 1988 0.09 Porbandar district: Porbandar major wintering grounds for the Common Crane Grus grus. After a Pania Wildlife Sanctuary 1989 39.63 Amreli district good monsoon c. 40,000 of them winter in Banni from September Balaram Ambaji Sanctuary 1989 542.08 Banaskantha district to February, mainly around Chhari- Jambuhoda Sanctuary 1990 130.38 Jambughoda district: Panchmahal Dhand, Servo Dhand, Hodko Thath (wetland), on the edge of the Great Purna Wildlife Sanctuary 1990 160.84 Dangs district Rann. On 17 December 2009, 60 So- Kutch Bustard Sanctuary 1992 2.03 Near Naliya district: Kachchh ciable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius Mitiyala Wildlife Sanctuary 2004 18:22 Mitiyala district: Amerli were seen in Banni by this author. The birds were seen till 10 Febru- Total area 16440.91 ary 2010. This is perhaps the larg- est single population of this species reported from India. References Ali, S., & Ripley, S. D., 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. 2nd ed. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Clarke, R., Prakash, V., Clark, W. S., Ramesh, N., & Scott, D., 1998. World record count of roosting Harriers Circus in Blackbuck National Park, Velavadar, Gujarat, north-west India. Forktail 14 (August): 70–71. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C., & Inskipp, T., 1998. Birds of the Indian Subcon- tinent. London: Christopher Helm, A & C Black. Islam, Z.-u., & Rahmani, A. R., 2004. Important Bird Areas in India. Prior- ity sites for conservation. 1st ed. Mumbai: Indian Bird Conservation Network: Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International J. K. Tiwari (UK). Sociable Lapwing Vanellus gregarius 6 February 2010 Banni Kachchh 1 Source: http://gujenvfor.gswan.gov.in/wildlife/wildlife-national-parks-sanctuaries.html [downloaded on 25 October 2010].