European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 7, Issue 8, 2020 DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE OF INDIAN PEAFOWL AND THEIR NESTING PREFERENCES WITHIN CHANDIGARH CITY AND ITS ADJOINING AREAS Sandaldeep Kaur1 and Tejdeep Kaur Kler2 1Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, PG Govt. College for Girls, Chandigarh 2Principal Ornithologist, Department of Zoology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana Abstract - Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is widely distributed bird but its status is unknown in urban landscape. The aim of the study was to estimate the distribution and abundance and nesting preferences of Indian Peafowl in Chandigarh and adjoining areas from January 2017 to December 2017. Two locations in the city viz: Peacock Garden, Sector- 39 (location I), near bus stand Sector- 43 (location II) two locations from adjoining areas i.e. village Palsora (location III) and village Maloya (location IV) were selected. Point transect method was used during study. The total inhabitants of Indian Peafowl was recorded to be 30-35 at location I, 15-20 at location II, 10-15 at location III and IV with flock size ranged between 7-10 individuals. The sex ratio was highly skewed towards females at all selected locations. The thick, thorny and scrub vegetation cover was found to be the most preferred habitat. Indian Peafowl devoted maximum time in feeding and standing followed by roosting, calling and display. Roosting was observed on Azadiracta indica (Neem), Ficus religiosa (Peepal), Acacia nilotica (Kikar), Melia azedarach (Dhek). Breeding activities of Indian Peafowl was commenced in the month of April till first week of October. At location I, II, III and IV nests observed were 7, 5, 3, and 2 respectively. It could be inferred that the presence of heterogeneous vegetation comprising of trees, scrub vegetation and grassland which can provide refuge and breeding grounds to Indian Peafowl and these areas should be sustained. Keywords: Breeding, habitat, Indian Peafowl, nesting, roosting. INTRODUCTION Birds have very close relationship with trees. Trees offer a platform to birds for nesting, roosting, foraging, breeding and feeding purposes. Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) is widely distributed bird but its status is unknown in urban landscape. Abundance of bird species is largely influenced by the spatiotemporal distribution of some key environmental resources (Girma et al 2017). The Indian Peafowl is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent and found mainly on the ground in dry, semi-desert areas, grasslands, scrublands, open and deciduous forests, roost in trees or other high places at night. The distribution of Indian Peafowl is almost pervasive and quite common in northern India, but due to the high demand of its train feathers, it is presently under peril. It is a bird of scrub-jungles and forest edges, showing affinity to moist, dry deciduous and semiarid biomes. It is also found in agricultural fields, along streams with good vegetation and close to human habitations in a semi-feral condition (Johnsgard 1986). In India, Pavo cristatus is distributed in the Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. In Haryana, Pavo cristatus is mainly distributed in Sultanpur National Park (Gurgaon), Kalesar National Park (Yamunanagar), Saraswati Plantation Wildlife Sanctuary (Kurukshetra) and in other districts such as Faridabad, Hisar, Jind, Kurukshetra and Mahendergarh (Chopra et al 2014) It was observed that the Peafowl preferred prosopis bushes for nesting during extensive survey in Keoladeo National Park from the month of June to October. During initial periods, peahens fly farther from nest but as the incubation advanced, they hesitates to move or travel shorter distance from their nest and returned soon. Generally, peahen came off from the nest and feed once or twice a day during incubation as stated 5602 European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 7, Issue 8, 2020 by Johnsingh and Murali (1978), Ali and Ripley (1987) and Yasmin (1995). It was observed that a variable nesting period was found from different places from January to October in Pakistan (Ali and Ripley 1987); November to March in South India (Johnsingh and Murali 1978); and July to September in Aligarh (Yasmin 1995), as these period are related with the monsoon. Interestingly, they make a nest at protective places by using prosopis bushes and dried grasses intermingled with small dry twigs which effectively concealed their nests to avoid predators (Budgey 1994, Gardiner 1996 and Takahashi and Hasegawa 2008). METHODOLOGY The present study was carried out in two locations in the city viz: Peacock Garden, Sector- 39 (location I), near bus stand sector- 43 (location II) two locations from adjoining areas i.e. village Palsora (location III) and village Maloya (location IV). Point transect method was used for the survey of different birds (Verner 1985). Identification of birds inhabiting the study areas was done on the basis of visual observations on their morphological characteristics like shape, size and color of the beak, wings, eyes, feathers, legs and other body parts by using binocular (7x50) and comparing them with those described by Ali (2003). Identification of trees in the area was done according to Sahni (1998). Point transect method Birds inhabiting or foraging in the specified transect were counted with the help of point transect method (Verner 1985). Observations were made on weekly basis in morning between 6:00 am to 8:00 am in summers and between 7:00 am to 9:00 am in winters. If noise or call of any bird was heard, it was not taken into consideration. Count of only those birds was made which were present within transect while the birds showing to and fro movements and occurring beyond the fixed distance were not taken into consideration. The movements of the birds was noted as precisely as possible so as to avoid pseudo replication. Instruments used i) Camera: Bird photography was also done using camera Nikon B500 having 16.0 Mega Pixels and Optical Zoom 40x. ii) Binocular: A Bushnell binocular with the range of 7×50 was used for the bird watching. iii) Altimeter: Ravi altimeter was used to measure the tree height and nest height from ground level. Statistical Analysis: One way ANOVA was used to compare the abundance and various breeding activities of Indian Peafowl between different locations. Behavioural activities: The field observations on the behavioral activity patterns of Indian Peafowl were carried out from January 2017 to December 2017. The survey sites included Location I, II III and IV. The field area is distributed under different categories of crops such as wheat, maize, rice, vegetables, fodder and orchards. The method of scan sampling was followed (Altmann 1974). Scan sampling is a technique of observing and recording animal behavior with time intervals. The activities of individuals were recorded at pre selected time intervals. In this case, two types of data recording were carried out. Each behavioral activities of Indian Peafowl was noted like feeding, standing, walking, running, display, preening, calling, flying and roosting in both the selected areas. First, continuous monitoring of Indian Peafowl was carried out for 30 minutes and recorded for activity and time budget; secondly, survey was carried out during early morning and early evening hours. All the sightings of peafowl were recorded on data sheet. The male and female Indian Peafowl was distinguished by their neck color appearance, i.e., males recognized by blue neck and female recognized by green neck. Roosting and foraging: The roosting habits of Indian Peafowl were observed in all the selected locations. The tree species used by Indian Peafowl for roosting in orchards, scrubby and dense regions were recorded and identified in all the study locations. The point count method was used to record feeding habits of Indian Peafowl (Blondel et al 1981). 5603 European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 7, Issue 8, 2020 Breeding behavior: For elucidating the accurate breeding behavior, parameters such as site and structure of the nest, nesting material, incubation period, season of breeding, display were monitored at all the studied locations (Hollamby et al 2003). To record the breeding behavior of Indian peafowl observation were taken on weekly intervals at all the studied locations from January 2017 to December 2017. Nest characteristics: The nest characteristics like shape of the nest and materials used were noted down carefully. The number of eggs present in each nest, nest diameter, radius of nest and nest circumference were also recorded with respect to every location. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: In our study, the breeding activities of Indian Peafowl commenced in March and continued till October in a period from January 2017 to December 2017. At location I, the breeding activities were noted from end of March up to September. At location II, breeding activities were observed from May to July in three breeding seasons. The breeding of Indian Peafowl started from June to August at location III. At location IV, the breeding season was recorded from April to end of October during all studied breeding years. Based on the observations made in three breeding seasons at four studied locations, the breeding season was found to be ranged from March to end October. Mushtaq-ul-Hassan et al (2012) noted that Indian Peafowl was found breeding between April to October. In the present study, it was seemed that there was early commencement of breeding season by one month at studied locations The total inhabitants of Indian Peafowl was recorded to be 30-35 at location I, 15-20 at location II, 10-15 at location III and IV with flock size ranged between 7-10 individuals (Table 1). The sex ratio was highly skewed towards females at all selected locations. The thick, thorny and scrub vegetation cover was found to be the most preferred habitat.