Avifaunal Diversity on the Banks of River Cauvery, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 Avifaunal Diversity On The Banks Of River Cauvery, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India Dr. R. Carlton1*, Parvadha Vardhini S2 & Bernice Dorothy Samuel3 Assistant Professor1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli. Post Graduate Students2,3 Department of Environmental Sciences, Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli. Corresponding Email: [email protected] Abstract Aquatic environments provide critical habitat to a wide variety of bird species which are a part of the balance of nature, indicators of the quality of the environment and are sensitive to habitat change. The present study focuses to find the species diversity of aquatic birds along river Cauvery at Tiruchirappalli. Point count and road side count methods were applied for achieving the purpose. 34 species aquatic birds have been recorded from the study area. Among the 34 species recorded 19 species of large waders, 6 species of small waders, 3 species of divers and 3 species of Terns and 3 species of kingfishers were identified. during study, great thick knee (NT) and western reef heron which is usually found only in coastal area were recorded . The occurrence of 12 migratory birds demands for the protection and prevention of threatening activities observed in the region of the banks of the river Cauvery. Key words: Aquatic birds, river Cauvery, Tiruchirappalli. Introduction Birds are important part in any ecosystem and they act as biological indicators to understand the value of environment. Some birds are considered keystone species as their presence in (or disappearance from) an ecosystem affects other species indirectly. Bird diversity has been decreasing due to the destruction of natural surroundings and anthropogenic activities in many regions. Very few studies have been done on bird diversity at Cauvery river banks at Tiruchirappalli. The current study was carried out to assess the diversity of aquatic birds. The selected study area have varied habitats near the river with agricultural lands and smaller water bodies leading to formation of marshy habitat. The present study helps to prepare a baseline data on species diversity on aquatic birds. Significance of the Study Diversity of fishes at Grand Anicut (Balasundaram et al. 1999), diversity of phytoplankton in Cauvery river at Thanjavur (Babu et al. 2014) and diversity of birds in this area had been done only in 2016. (Manjula Menon, 2016). Pertaining to limited studies the present pursued study on avifauna at Kallanai region would enlighten us with the current scenario as well as form a basis for future innovations. Volume 8, Issue 8, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 728 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 Aim: To study the diversity of aquatic birds on the banks of river Cauvery in Tiruchirapalli. Objectives: To identify the aquatic birds on the banks of river Cauvery. To find out the relative status of each species present in the study area. To find the presence of migratory species relative to the residential species. Study Area The river Cauvery originates from Guddagumalai and flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu, it runs through Mettur, Bhavani, Komarapalayam, Trichy and Thanjavur and then flows into the Bay of Bengal at Kaveripoompattinam. The study was conducted along the river stretch from Cauvery Bridge to Grand Anicut via NH-45 North Bank Kallanai Road and SH-22 Sakarpalayam – Kallanai road including coordinates between 10⁰ 84’ 53” N to 10⁰ 82’ 56” N and 78⁰ 73’ 36” E to 78⁰ 78’ 01” E covering an area of about 11.1 sq km ( Fig: 01). Period of Study Figure -1: Study area Map The study was carried out on alternate days for two months during January and February, 2019.. Rapid and night surveys were also carried out record nocturnal water birds. Data was collected 4 times a week i.e., every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The data were collected in the morning (06:30am-10:00am) and in the evening (03:00pm-06:30pm). Methodology The 31 kilometres stretch from Cauvery Bridge to Grand Anicut was divided into 15 sites with 2 kilometres gap left between every site. The aquatic birds were identified and counted by point count and road side count methods. 10 minutes were spent at each site for observation. Birds were recorded on both the sides of the road by the observer while travelling or moving to the next site at a constant speed of 20 km/h. Results and Discussion This study reveal that there are 38 species of aquatic birds on the banks of river Cauvery Volume 8, Issue 8, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 729 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 (Table 01) belonging to 4 orders and 11 families of birds. Dendrocygnidae (1 species), Anatidae(1 species), Alcedinidae (2 species), Halcyonidae (1 species), Cerylidae (1 species), Rallidae (1 species), Scolopacidae (4 species), Jacanidae (1 species), Charadriidae (1 species), Burhinidae (1 species), Laridae (3 species), Podicipedidae (1 species), Phalacrocoracidae (3 species), Ardeidae (9 species), Threskiornithidae (3 species), Ciconiidae (4 species) were observed. The family and Ardeidae recorded the maximum number of species (Table 01) Table -1: List of Aquatic birds with Local and IUCN status S. Family / Common Name Scientific Name M/R IUCN Local No status Status A ORDER: ANSERIFORMES Family: Dendrocygnidae 1 Lesser whistling duck Dendrocygna R LC NR javanica Family: Anatidae Sub family: Anatini 2 Spot Billed Duck Anas R LC NR poecilorhyncha 3 Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata M LC VR B ORDER: CORACIFORMES Family: Alcedinidae 4 Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis R LC VR Family: Halcyonidae 5 White throated kingfisher Halcyon gularis R LC VC Family: Cerylidae 6 Pied kingfisher Ceryle rudis R LC NR C ORDER:GRUIFORMES Family: Rallidae 7 White -Breasted Waterhen Amaurornis R LC VR hoenicurus D ORDER: CICONIIFORMES Family: Scolopacidae 8 Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia M LC R 9 Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus M LC VR 10 Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola M LC NR 11 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos M LC NR Family: Jacanidae 12 Bronze Winged Jacana Metopidius indicus R LC VR Family: Charadriidae 13 Black Winged Stilt Himantopus M LC R himantopus 14 Red-Wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus R LC NR Family: Burhinidae Volume 8, Issue 8, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 730 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 15 Great Thick- knee Esacus R NT VR recurvirostris Family: Laridae 16 Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia M LC VC 17 River Tern Sterna aurantia R NT VR 18 Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida M LC R Family: Podicipedidae 19 Little Grebe Tachybaptus R LC VR ruficollis Family: Phalacrocoracidae 20 Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax R LC VC niger 21 Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax R LC NR fuscicollis 22 Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax M LC NR carbo Family: Ardeidae 23 Little Egret Egretta garzetta R LC VC 24 Grey Heron Ardea cinereal R LC C 25 Purple Heron Ardea purpurea R LC NR 26 Western Reef Egret Egretta gularis M LC VR 27 Great Egret Casmerodius albus R LC R 28 Intermediate Egret Mesophoyx R LC C intermedia 29 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis R LC VC 30 Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii R LC VC 31 Black Crown Night Heron Nycticorax R LC R nycticorax Family: Threskiornithidae 32 Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus M LC VR 33 Black Headed Ibis Pseudibis papillosa R NT R 34 Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia R LC VR Family: Ciconiidae 35 Painted Stork Mycteria R NT NR leucocephala 36 Asian Openbill Anastomus oscitans R LC VC 37 Woolly-Necked Stork Ciconia episcopus R VU VR 38 White Stork Ciconia Ciconia M LC VR R- Resident, M*-Migrant, LC*-Least Concern, NT*-Near Threatened, VU*- Vulnerable VC-Very common,C-Common .NR-Not rare ,R-Rare ,VR-Very rare Volume 8, Issue 8, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 731 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 Figure -2- Total number of species: Resident and Migratory birds The above figure depicts the distribution of migratory and resident birds in the study area, among the 38 species,26 were resident and 12 were migratory species. Northern shoveler, common sandpipers, wood sandpiper, green sandpiper, common greenshank, black winged stilts, Caspian tern , whiskered tern, great cormorant, western reef egret, glossy ibis, white stork were the migrants species. Among the twelve migrants, ten are winter visitors except great cormorant which is a passage migrant and western reef egret which is an occasional visitor (Grimmett -2013). Table -2: IUCN Status of Birds at River Cauvery IUCN Status Number of species Least Concern (LC) 33 Near Threatened (NT) 4 Vulnerable (VU) 1 From the table 02 we can infer that there are 4 species of Near threatened birds including Great Thick- knee, River Tern, Black Headed Ibis and Painted Stork and Woolly-Necked Stork which is vulnerable according to IUCN are found here. This attracts the protection of the area. Table -3: Local Status of Birds at River Cauvery Local Status Number of species Very Common (VC) 7 Common (C) 2 Not Rare (NR) 10 Rare (R) 6 Very Rare(VR) 12 The table 03 depicts that there are 12 very rare species which further demands greater protection of this area. Northern Shoveler, Common kingfisher, White -Breasted Waterhen, Green Sandpiper, Bronze Winged Jacana, Great Volume 8, Issue 8, 2020 http://aegaeum.com/ Page No: 732 AEGAEUM JOURNAL ISSN NO: 0776-3808 Thick- knee, River Tern, Little Grebe, Western Reef Egret, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Woolly-Necked Stork and White Stork Conclusion This present study on the diversity of aquatic birds on the banks of river Cauvery reveals the presence of 38 species belonging to 4 orders and 11 families. The family Ardeidae which includes herons and egrets represented the maximum species . Out of the 38 species, 26 are resident and 12 are migratory including winter visitors, passage migrants and occasional visitors.

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