Vol. 13(3), 2017 ISSN: 0972-3153

Contents Dr. K. Sankar Pg. No.

Mr. N. Mohamed Ibrahim

Views expressed in the articles of this newsletter are of the authors only.

From the Editor’s Desk

Wetlands are a critical part of our natural environment and are

We welcome original research and popular articles, reviews, important features in the landscape that provide numerous reports, research highlights, notes, news, snippets, etc., related to beneficial services for people and for fish and wildlife. The economy the thematic area of the ENVIS Resource Partner for publication of our country is based chiefly on agriculture but during the past few in ‘Sarovar Saurabh the ENVIS Newsletter on Wetland decades, industrialisation has also made rapid progress. All these ecosystems including inland wetlands’. factors have a profound bearing on the nature of aquatic habitats and The articles and other information should be neatly typed in its associated wildlife. double space not exceeding five pages. The figures, graphs/drawings should be of good quality and clarity. In this issue we have articles on the avifauna and from two different

Photographs should be of minimum 300 dpi resolution. biogeographic zones of the country. The papers though are varied References should be limited and cited in the text by name an year. highlight the impacts of man one of the most important factor in the Council of Science editors style may be referred to for listing landscape. In addition to the publications we also have the news on references at th end. wetlands and the World Environment day. Email your articles in MS-Word 2003 or 2007 format to [email protected] or [email protected] Our website host a variety of information on the latest conferences, laws, rules & regulations on wetlands, bibliography, conferences Send the articles in hard copy by post to: updates, news and other information that can be accessed easily. Further, it will help us if you can communicate the activities The ENVIS Co-ordinator, associated with wetlands that you would have undertaken. We will ENVIS Resource Partner, include it on our website and help reach the information to the Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) masses. Anaikatty P.O. Coimbatore - 641108. ,

Ph: 0422-2203100, 129 Website: www.saconenvis.nic.in; www.sacon.in Dr. K. Sankar, Director, SACON

Introduction Birds that inhabit wetlands for feeding, breeding, nesting or roosting are broadly defined as water birds (Kumar et al., 2005). These water birds are an essential component of the food web and nutrient cycles of the wetland ecosystems (Dhakate et al., 2008). The abundance of water birds in a particular wetland mainly depends on the availability of food, nesting sites and predation risk (Halse et al., 1993).Wetlands are the main custodians of the water birds (Stewart, 2001; Weller, 1999). Due to high nutritional value and productivity, it attracts a huge number of migratory and resident bird species (Manikannan et al., 2012). Among the various habitats, wetlands are considered as one of the most threatened one in the world (Prasad et al., 2015). During the last century, the world has lost over 50% of wetlands due to various human influences, and the remaining of them have declined because of various human activities (Zhijun et al., 2010). Wetlands in India face tremendous anthropogenic pressure mainly due to the release of domestic sewage, industrial effluents, dumping of solidwaste, over-exploitation of the natural resources and conversion of wetlands into barren lands. This resulted in biodiversity loss and Figure 1. Study area of Koothappar Big Tank disturbance of the wetland services (Ramachandra, 2006). This loss of wetlands has dangerously reduced the availability stopover sites for migrating birds and has increased the importance of remaining wetlands to migrants as well as nesting species. Prasad et al. (2004) prioritized the wetlands based on the bird composition wetland size and socioeconomic use of the particular wetlands. Koothapar big tank is one among the 49 wetlands prioritized for conservation in Tamil Nadu state. Study Area Koothapar Big tank (10°47'42.75"N; 78°46'38.32"E) is one of the important seasonal wetland which supplies water for irrigation in town. It acts as a feeding and breeding ground for many water birds and wetland-dependent birds. It is about 15 Km far away from district, Tamilnadu, India. This wetland receives water from Uyyakondan channel, the distributary of river Cauvery. The total area of the wetland is 74 hectares. Fish farming is another use of the wetland. Eichhornia crassipes was the dominant macroflora covering the wetland. Hunting, fishing, open defecation, sewage discharging, solid waste dumping are the common human activities found in and around the wetland. Methods The birds were observed for two days for two months during 17th January 2016 and 14th February 2016. Observations were carried out following line transect method during the early morning, i.e., 7:00am to 10:00am as the bird activity is high during this time of the day (Bibby et al., 1998 ) The check list of species was prepared following Grimmett et al. (2011). Results Koothapar wetland is known to attract birds that include migrants like Grey headed Lapwing, local migrants like Asian open bill, Cattle Egrets, waterfowls, swimmers, divers like Northen Pintail and waders. Near threatened species like Black-headed Ibis and Oriental Darter have also been reported from the wetland. During the study, 94 species of birds were observed from the wetland which represent 19 orders and 49 families, which belong to various ecological, residential and feeding groups. The list of observed birds and their details are presented in Table 1. Maximum diversity of birds belonged to the Order Passeriformes, followed by Charadriiformes,

Anseriformes 25 Galliformes 21 20 Ciconiiformes Suliformes 15

Accipitriformes 10 Gruiformes 6 Charadriiformes 5 3 2 2 2 Columbiformes 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Cuculiformes 0 Order Strigiformes

Figure 2. Bird orders and number of Family observed in the Koothappar Big Tank Peliconiformes, Anseriformes and Gruiformes (Figure 2). Number wise the Order Passeriformes was followed by Peliconiformes, Charadriiformes and Gruiformes. 73 species were observed in the Wetland Birds month of January while during February 79 species 31% were observed. From the 73 species observed in January 59 species were also recorded in February Terrestrial Birds 61% in addition to 20 species that mainly comprised of terrestrial birds. Family wise Ardeidae was represented by eight species with the dominance of Wetland dependent Birds 8% Indian Pond Heron and Cattle egret. Though Order Passeriformes was the dominant order in . terms of diversity and abundance, family Cisticolidae was the most diverse with four species, while family Hirundinidae represented by Barn Swallow that was more in number. The overall composition of birds was made up of 57 terrestrial bird species followed by 29 wetland bird species and eight wetland dependant bird species (Figure 3). Among the 29 species of wetland birds observed during the study, 26 species were recorded in the month of January and 25 species during February. From the 25 species observed during February three species were not observed during January month. A comparison of the population size between the water birds, water dependant birds and terrestrial birds revealed the dominance of water birds totaling to 1130 numbers followed by terrestrial birds with 882 numbers and water dependant birds with 238 numbers. Over all the water birds dominated in numbers while the terrestrial birds were more diverse, the terrestrial birds showed an increasing trend during February while the water birds decreased in diversity (Figure 4). The increase in the terrestrial birds species can be related to the depletion of water level in the wetland and the associated changes in land use pattern. The land use mainly comprise of agriculture fields and solid waste dumping around the wetland that influences the wetland character. Conclusion Koothapar Big Tank (or) Periyakulam wetland acts as a feeding and breeding ground for many waterbirds such as migratory birds, waterfowl, wader, swimmer, diver and threatened bird species. Many bird species like Little grebe, Indian Spot-billed duck, Lesser whistling duck, Herons, Egrets, Cormorants, Jacanas, Terns, Lapwings, Common Coot, White-breasted water hen, Purple moorhen and Garganey were sighted at this wetland. Hence Koothapar periyakulam Lake is very important for several species of water birds especially migratory birds, waterfowls and threatened species was recorded. It is recommended that necessary action be undertaken to conserve this important wetland: Prohibition of Hunting in the wetland. Banning of solid waste dumping near the wetland. Creating awareness among the local people regarding the importance of the wetland and Table 1. Checklist of birds observed in Koothappar big tank.

Jan Feb Migratory IUCN S. No Order Family Common Name Status Status 1 Lesser Whistling-duck Dendrocygna javanica 20 56 RE LC

2 Cotton Pygmy-goose Nettapus coromandelianus 52 50 RE LC 3 Anseriformes Anatidae Garganey Spatula querquedula 6 - WM LC 4 Northern Shoveler Spatula clypeata 2 - WM LC

5 Indian Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha - 5 RE LC 6 Grey Francolin Francolinus pondicerianus 2 2 RE LC Galliformes Phasianidae 7 Indian Peafowl Pavo cristatus - 2 RE LC

8 Podicipediformes Podicipedidae Little Grebe 4 - RE LC

9 Ciconiiformes Ciconiidae Asian Openbill Anas tomusoscitans 1 7 RE LC 10 Anhingidae Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster 9 21 RE NT Suliformes 11 Phalacrocoracidae Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis 4 8 RE LC

12 Phalacrocoracidae Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger 37 50 RE LC

13 Grey Heron Ardea cinerea 7 7 LM LC 14 Purple Heron Ardea purpurea 9 8 RE LC 15 Great Egret Ardea alba 2 3 RE LC 16 Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia 8 6 RE LC Pelecaniformes Ardeidae 17 Little Egret Egretta garzetta 22 15 RE LC 18 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 150 45 RE LC 19 Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii 123 100 RE LC 20 Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 1 7 RE LC 21 Threskiornithidae Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus 5 3 RE NT 22 Eurasian Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus 1 - WM LC 23 Shikra Accipiter badius 1 3 RE LC Accipitriformes Accipitridae 24 Black Kite Milvus migrans 5 2 RE LC 25 Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus 2 2 RE LC 26 White-breasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus 2 2 RE LC 27 Grey-headed Swamphen Porphyrio poliocephalus 29 16 RE LC Gruiformes Rallidae 28 Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus - 13 RE LC 29 Eurasian Coot Fulica atra 21 39 RE LC 30 Recurvirostridae Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus 4 24 LM LC

31 Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus 2 - WM LC Charadriidae 32 Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus 11 27 RE LC 33 Jacanidae Pheasant-tailed Jacana Hydrophasianus chirurgus 24 16 RE LC Charadriiformes 34 Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago 3 1 WM LC 35 Scolopacidae Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus - 3 WM LC 36 Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola 16 7 WM LC 37 Turnicidae Buttonquail sp. Turnix sp. 1 - LC 38 Laridae Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida 200 50 WM LC 39 Common Pigeon Columba livia - 2 RE LC 40 Columbiformes Columbidae Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto - 1 RE LC 41 Spotted Dove Streptopelia chinensis 8 6 RE LC 42 Pied Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus 1 9 RE LC 43 Cuculiformes Cuculidae Asian Koel Eudynamys scolopaceus - 3 RE LC 44 Common Hawk Cuckoo Hierococcyx varius 1 2 RE LC S. Jan Feb Migratory IUCN Order Family Common Name No Status Status 45 Strigiformes Strigidae Spotted owlet Athene brama - 3 RE LC 46 Apodiformes Apodidae Asian Palm Swift Cypsiurus balasiensis 26 13 RE LC 47 Alcedo atthis 3 2 RE LC 48 Alcedinidae White- Halcyon smyrnensis 12 4 RE LC Coraciiformes 49 Ceryle rudis 4 2 RE LC 50 Meropidae Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus 22 18 WM LC 51 Megalaimidae Coppersmith Barbet Psilopogon haemacephalus - 2 RE LC Piciformes 52 Picidae Black-rumped Flameback Dinopium benghalense - 2 RE LC 53 Falconiformes Falconidae Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus 2 WM LC 54 Coraciiformes Coraciidae Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis 4 - RE LC 55 Psittaciformes Psittacidae Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri 3 5 RE LC 56 TephrodornithidaeCommon Woodshrike Tephrodornis pondicerianus - 4 RE LC 57 Artamidae Ashy Woodswallow Artamus fuscus - 3 RE LC 58 Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus 2 3 WM LC Laniidae 59 Bay-backed Shrike Lanius vittatus - 5 RE LC 60 Oriolidae Indian Golden Oriole Oriolus kundoo 2 7 RE LC 61 Dicruridae Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus 50 29 RE LC 62 Monarchidae Indian Paradise-flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi - 1 RE LC 63 Rufous Treepie Dendrocitta vagabunda - 5 RE LC 64 Corvidae House Crow Corvus splendens 18 33 RE LC Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos culminatus 29 12 RE LC 65 Alaudidae Jerdon'sBushlark 2 - RE LC 66 Hirundinidae Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica 53 100 WM LC 67 Red-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus cafer 2 7 RE LC Pycnonotidae 68 White-browed Bulbul Pycnonotus luteolus 5 - RE LC 69 Sykes's Warbler Iduna rama 3 2 WM LC 70 Acrocephalidae Blyth's Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum 16 5 WM LC 71 Clamorous Reed Warbler Acrocephalus stentoreus 3 - WM LC 72 Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis 4 4 RE LC 73 Common Tailorbird Orthotomus sutorius 9 4 RE LC Cisticolidae 74 Ashy Prinia Prinia socialis 1 7 RE LC Passeriformes 75 Plain Prinia Prinia inornata 2 7 RE LC 76 Leiothrichidae Yellow-billed Babbler 13 26 RE LC 77 Indian Robin Copsychus fulicatus 2 3 RE LC 78 Muscicapidae Pied Bushchat Saxicola caprata 5 - RE LC 79 Oriental Magpie Robin Copsychus saularis - 2 RE LC 80 Brahminy Starling Sturnia pagodarum 4 7 RE LC 81 Sturnidae Chestnut-tailed Starling Sturnia malabarica - 6 RE LC 82 Common Myna Acridotheres tristis 67 27 RE LC 83 Dicaeidae Pale-billed Flowerpecker Dicaeum erythrorhynchos - 2 RE LC 84 Purple- rumped Sunbird Leptocoma zeylonica 12 8 RE LC 85 Nectariniidae Purple Sunbird Cinnyris asiaticus 8 5 RE LC 86 Long-billed Sunbird Cinnyris lotenius 2 - RE LC 87 Western Yellow Wagtail 3 - WM LC Motacillidae 88 White-browed Wagtail Motacilla maderaspatensis 2 6 RE LC 89 Passeridae House Sparrow Passer domesticus 4 - RE LC 90 Streaked Weaver Ploceus manyar 13 14 RE LC Ploceidae 91 Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus 18 - RE LC 92 Scaly-breasted Munia Lonchura punctulata - 4 RE LC 93 Estrildidae - 2 LM LC Tricolored Munia Lonchura malacca 94 Total number of species 73 79 waterbirds. Acknowledgements I express my deep sense of gratitude and heartfelt thanks to Mr. T. Mohanraj, Mr. N. Saravanan and Mr. G. Lakshmanan, UG students of Zoology of the college for their help during our field trips. Reference Bibby, C., Jones, M. and Marsden, S. (1998) Expedition Field Techniques: Bird Surveys. Royal Geographical Society, London. Dhakate, P.M., Patil, T.A. and Bhartari, R. (2008) Wetland Birds of Corbett Tiger Reserve Landscape, Sengupta, M. and Dalwani, R. (Editors). Proceedings of Taal: The 12th World Lake Conference. 1974-1982. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. and Inskipp, T. (2011) Birds of Indian Subcontinent. Princeton University Press, India. pp.528. Halse, S.A., Pearson, G.B. and Patrick, S. (1993) Vegetation of depth-gauged wetland in nature reserves of south-west Western Australia, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Technical Report No. 30. Kumar, A., Sati, J.P., Tak, P.C. and Alfred, J.R.B. (2005) Handbook on Indian Wetland Birds and their Conservations. Zoological Survey of India. 472. Manikannan, R., Asokan, S. and Mohamed Samsoor Ali, A. (2012) Abundance and Factors Affecting Population Characteristics of Waders (Charadriiformes) in Great Vedaranyam Swamp of Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary, South-east Coast of India. International Journal of Ecosystem. 2(1): 6-14. Prasad, S.N., Jaggi, A.K., Kaushik, P., Vijayan, L., Muralidharan, S. and Vijayan, V.S. (2004) Inland wetlands of India, Conservation Atlas. Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History. Coimbatore, India. 222. Prasad, S.N., Sengupta, T., Alok Kumar., Vijayan, V.S.,LalitaVijayan., Ramachandra T., Ahalya, N. and Tiwari A.K. (2015) Wetland of India. http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/ energy/water/paper/ wetlands/impacts.html. Ramachandra, T.V. (2006) Soil and Groundwater Pollution from Agricultural Activities, Commonwealth of learning, Canada and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Printed by Capital Publishing Company, New Delhi (Reprinted in 2009 by TERI Press, New Delhi). Stewart, R.E. (2001) Technical Aspects of Wetlands: Wetlands as Bird Habitat. National Water Summary on Wetland Resources, United States Geological Survey. 86. Weller, M.W. (1999) Wetland bird habitat resources and conservation implications. Press syndicate of the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. 316. Zhijun, Ma.,YintingCai., Bo, Li. and Jiakuan Chen. (2010) Managing wetland habitats for waterbirds: An international perspective. Wetlands. 3: 15-27. A note on Sultanpur National Park, the Bird Paradise of Haryana Purbasha Banerjee1* , Arijit Pal2 1 Research Biologist, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) 2 Research Scholar, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) *Corresponding author: [email protected]

Situated in the foothills of Aravalli, the state of Haryana is known for its lush agricultural lands, replete with ponds, lakes and canals. The significant number of water bodies form the important feeding, breeding and roosting ground for many resident and migratory birds. The Sultanpur Jheel (28º28' N, 76º55' E) of Gurgaon district is such a wetland which is a perfect abode for birds due to its hydrological and vegetative characteristics.

The Sultanpur Jheel was declared as a Sanctuary on 2nd April, 1971 and was upgraded to National Park on 5th July, 1991. Total area of Sultanpur National Park (SNP) is 1.41 Km2 and the lake (Jheel) forms the core area, which is a seasonal freshwater wetland with irregular margins of fluctuating water level throughout the year. This shallow lake is fed by the overflow from adjacent agricultural fields and also receives water from the Gurgaon canal of river Yamuna. However, the water level in the lake remains maximum during monsoon and winter (July-March) and it becomes almost dry during the summer months (April-June).

The dominant terrestrial vegetation in the Park consists of Prosopis chilensis, Acacia nilotica, and Azadirachta indica, and grasses such as Vetiveria zizanioides and Erianthus ravennae. Aquatic vegetation includes submerged vegetation like Vallisneria natans, Hydrilla sp., Ceratophyllum demersum; emergent plants such as Typha angustata, Saccharum munja and Cyperus rotundus; and rooted floating saprophytes are Nymphaea stellata, N. nouchali and Ipomoea reptans (Kalpavriksh, 1994). The seasonal aquatic vegetation and open grasslands, dotted with manmade mud and grass islands provide excellent habitat for different species of birds to roost and rest.

As the Park falls in the Central Asian Migratory Flyway, it teems with thousands of waterfowl in winter from Central Asia and Western Palearctic region. Earlier studies revealed the existence of significant number of avian species in the wetland areas of Haryana (Harvey, 2003; Chopra et al., 2013). More than 320 species of birds were recorded from SNP by Harvey in 2003. Chopra et al. (2012) recorded 113 avian species in the year of 2011-12. Kaushik and Gupta (2016) reported 161 species during the period of 2009-2014. However, a total of 223 species belonging to 17 taxonomic orders were recorded in 2014-2016, which include 55% resident, 38% winter migratory and 7% local migratory species (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016).

A total of 112 wetland birds including 58 migratory species were recorded from SNP during 2014-16 (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016). The population of the waterfowls were highest during the winter months (December- January) and lowest in summer (May-June) when the lake became almost dry. Among winter birds, Common Teal (Anas crecca) was the most dominant wintering duck, whereas Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) was the least recorded wintering duck in previous years. Common Crane (Grus grus) was the only wintering long-legged bird to this area. Indian Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) was the most common resident duck found throughout the year in variable numbers.

SNP is a very important breeding ground for both wetland and terrestrial birds. A total 45 species were recorded nesting during 2015-16, including 20 species of water birds and 25 of terrestrial birds. Most of the land birds nested during the summer months (April-June) whereas the fish-eating birds nested during end of summer and early monsoon (June-July). The Heronry of the fish-eating birds is one of the main attractions of SNP during Monsoon (Urfi et al., 2007). Sarus Crane (Grus antigone) and the Black Necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) are two resident conspicuous species which nest in the Park. The resident Sarus Crane regularly nests in this Park. When in 2015 a pair nested twice in summer and monsoon and in 2016 it nested in monsoon. The Black Necked Stork was the only species recorded nesting during winter (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016).

Total 13 species of fish eating birds were recorded nesting colonially in the heronry during 2014-2016 (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016). Painted Stork (Mycteria leucocephala) was the most common long-legged bird nesting at the Park. But the nesting was found very irregular. In recent years, the number of nests was found fluctuating from 116 (2015) to 4 (2014) nests (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016). However, Urfi et al. (2005) reported 96 and 57 nests in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

Other important heronry birds nesting in SNP, includes Asian Sarus Crane with chick at SNP Open-bill Stork Anastomus oscitans, Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus, Darter Anhinga melanogaster, cormorants and egrets. An irregularity in the nesting of these species was also observed in recent years. The reason could be the unavailability of food as there is hardly any fish stock remains after the dry season. The number of nests also depends on the water levels in the Park. Therefore, the unavailability of water affected the nesting of the heronry birds in 2016, when most of these birds left the heronry abandoned and Painted Storks nested after rain started in monsoon (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016).

SNP also hosts a good number of birds of prey. Total 23 species of Falconiformes were recorded from the Park during 2014-16 (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016). Among these 12 were wintering, nine species were resident and two were local migrant. Most of the resident species breeds within the Park.

Both the population of birds and the nesting success is Nesting of Painted Stork at SNP dependent over predation. The Bonneli's Eagle Aquila fasciata was found to be the most efficient bird of prey. Golden Jackals (Canis aureus) and Jungle cat (Felis chaus) were the only mammalian predator at SNP predating over the ground nesting birds. Monitor Lizard (Varanas bengalensis) was found pretating over the open nests of birds. Feral dogs were also found predating over wintering birds. The herds of Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) and feral cattle also occasionally trampled the chicks and eggs of water birds.

The Park is an important site for the species of global concern. There were historical records of four critically endangered, three endangered, 11 vulnerable and 16 near threatened species from the Park. But in recent years only one endangered, eight vulnerable and ten near threatened species were recorded (Banerjee and Prakash, 2016). Table 1 shows the list of such species recorded from SNP. There was also record of Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) from the Park which was recorded as a vagrant in the country (Rasmussen and Anderton, 2012, Sharma et al., 2013).

Sultanpur National Park serves as an important feeding, roosting and breeding ground for thousands of water

8 SACON ENVIS Newsletter - Sarovar Saurabh Vol.13(3), 2017. ISSN: 0972-3153 birds but it is under immense threat of anthropogenic activities. Increasing residential and commercial developments in the nearby areas, construction of high rise buildings, increase in transportations and the development of nearby roadways and railways has very significant impact over the avian population of the Park. Increasing pollution level is leading to the deterioration of the habitat. Increasing pressure of tourism and scarcity of water during summer months also impose threats to the avian population of the Park. In recent years, all these affect the avian population of the park resulting in decrease in the bird population.

Most of the water of the lake is pumped from the river Yamuna during monsoon and winter. The invasive African Cat fish (Clarias gariepinus) comes into the Park along with this water which damages its ecosystem. It is an omnivorous and voracious predator and feeds on the native flora and on native fish fauna, which ultimately affect the food resource availability in the wetland.

Sultanpur National Park is like an island between agricultural fields and there is rampant use of pesticide, insecticides and rodenticides in the fields. The water from the surrounding agricultural fields comes into the Park and brings these chemicals to the lake. Birds from the Park also regularly forage in the fields and ingest the chemicals. Therefore, there is a high threat of mass mortality due to the chemical pollution. Such an incident of mortality has happened in January 2015 when total 47 water birds were found dead after feeding in a nearby chemically polluted field (Banerjee and Prakash, 2015).

There are several poultry farms around the Park which increase the risk of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in the Park. During the outbreak of avian influenza in 2016 in Delhi and its nearby area, three Painted Storks, a Knob-billed Duck, a Spot-billed Duck and a Jungle Crow was found dead in the Park. Although the reason behind the death and the post-mortem reports were not revealed the possibility of avian influenza cannot be ruled out.

With these increasing urbanizations and threats it is necessary to frame and execute a management plan for the wetland and facilitate conservation efforts.

Table 1: Species of Global Concern (IUCN 2015) recorded from Sultanpur National Park Historical Recent Records S. No. Species Status data* (2014-16) 1. White-backed Vulture Gyps bengalensis CR √ -- 2. Long-billed Vulture Gyps indicus CR √ -- 3. Red-headed Vulture Sarcogyps calvus CR √ -- 4. Sociable Plover Vanellus gregarious CR √ -- 5. Egyptian Vulture Neophron percnopterus EN √ √ 6. Saker Falcon Falco cherrug EN √ -- 7. Black-bellied Tern Sterna acuticauda EN √ -- 8. Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus VU √ -- 9. Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus VU √ -- 10. Lesser White-fronted Goose Anser erythropus VU √ -- 11. Greater Spotted Eagle Aquila clanga VU √ √ 12. Eastern Imperial Eagle Aquila heliaca VU √ √ 13. Indian Spotted Eagle Aquila hastate VU √ √ 14. Pallas’s Fish Eagle Haliaeetus leucoryphus VU -- √ 15. Sarus Crane Grus Antigone VU √ √ 16. Common Pochard Aythya ferina VU √ √ 17. Woolly necked Stork Ciconia episcopu VU √ √ 18. Kashmir Flycatcher Ficedula subrubra VU -- √ 19. Stoliczka’s Bushchat Saxicola macrorhyncha VU √ -- 20. Finn’s Weaver Ploceus megarhynchus VU √ -- 21. Falcated Duck Anas falcate NT √ -- 22. Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca NT √ √ 23. Spot-billed Pelican Pelecanus philippensis NT √ -- 24. Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster NT √ √ 25. Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala NT √ √ 26. Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus NT √ √ 27. Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus NT √ √ 28. Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus minor NT √ -- 29. Lesser Fish-Eagle Ichthyophaga humilis NT √ -- 30. Laggar Falcon Falco jugger NT √ -- 31. Red-headed Falcon Falco chicquera NT √ -- 32. Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus NT √ √ 33. Great Thick-knee Esacus recurvirostris NT √ -- 34. Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa NT √ √ 35. Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica NT -- √ 36. River Tern Sterna aurantia NT √ √ 37. Alexandrine Parakeet Psittacula eupatria NT √ √

* Historical Data collected from reports of Haryana Forest Department (1970-2000). Reference Banerjee P. and Prakash V. (2015) Monitoring Waterfowl population at Sultanpur National Park, Haryana 2014- 15, Annual Report, Bombay Natural History Society. Banerjee P. and Prakash V. (2016) Monitoring Waterfowl population at Sultanpur National Park, Haryana 2015- 16, Annual Report, Bombay Natural History Society. Chopra G., Tyor A.K. and Kumari S. (2012) Status and conservation of avian fauna of Sultanpur National Park Gurgaon, Haryana (India). Journal of Applied and Natural Science. 4(2): 207-213. Chopra G., Tyor A.K. and Kumari S. (2013) A study on the wetland avian species of Sultanpur National Park Gurgaon, Haryana (India). Journal of Research Biology. 3(5): 1032-1040. Harvey B. (2003) Checklist of the birds of Sultanpur. Retrieved August, 18, 2010 from http://www.delhibird.net/content/view/73/89. IUCN (2015) IUCN Red List of threatened species. Version 2015. www.iucnredlist.org. Kalpavriksh (1994) Small and beautiful Sultanpur National Park. New Delhi. Kaushik T.K. and Gupta R.C. (2016) Status and diversity of avifauna in Sultanpur National Park in Gurgaon District-Haryana, India. Indian Forester [S.l.]: 989-998. Rasmussen P.C. and Anderton J.C. (2012) Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Vol. 1 & 2. Second Edition. Sharma M., Sangha H.S., Sridhar S. and Abhinav C. (2013) Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus at Sultanpur National Park, Haryana, India. Indian Birds .8(4): 101–103. Urfi A.J., Meganathan T. and Kalam A. (2007) Nesting ecology of the Painted Stork, Mycteria leucocephala at Sultanpur National Park, Haryana, India. Forktail .23: 150-153. Urfi A.J., Meganathan T., Kalam A. and Mahendiran M. (2005) Nesting of Asian Openbill and other heronry birds at Sultanpur National Park. Indian Birds. 6: 10-11.