Waders of Dibru-Saikhowa Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam Bibhab Kumar Talukdar Talukdar,B. K. 1996. Waders of Dibru-SaikhowaWildlife Sanctuary, Assam. Wader Study Group Bull. 80: 80-81. The status of waders in the Dibru-SaikhowaWildlife Sanctuary,Assam, is summarised. A total of 19 specieswere recordedfrom 14 field visits and other informationsupplied in the period 1990-1994. The Sanctuary has one of the richestwader faunas in Assam and its continued conservationis of key importance. B. K. Talukdar,Animal Ecology and VVildlifeBiology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Gauhati University,Guwahati - 781 014, Assam, India. In the past two decades, there has been increasing Bounded by the River Brahmaputra to the north and the concern about conservation of waders all over the world. River Dibru to the south, Dibru-Saikhowais purelya Data from the Asian Mid-winter Waterfowl Census in riparianhabitat comprising mostly wetlands and recentyears (1990-1994) reveal that the State of Assam grasslands,interspersed with medium to large patchesof (78 523 sq km) harboursaround 34 speciesof wader. A tree forests. The vegetationtypes of Dibru-Saikhowa preliminarysurvey of waders has been initiatedin the WLS can be classifiedinto - Tropical moist deciduous Dibru-SaikhowaWildlife Sanctuary (WLS) of Assam, forests,Tropical semi-evergreenforests, Bamboo and which is documented in this paper. cane brakes, Reedbedsand Alluvial grassland. The land use pattern of the sanctuaryis shown in Figure 2 but figure does not referto these habitatsspecifically. The BACKGROUND climate can be consideredas "Sub-tropicalMoist", the annual precipitationis 2 500-3 500 mm. The average temperaturevaries betweena maximum of 36ø C and a The Dibru-SaikhowaWLS (27ø 40'N, 95ø 24'E), covers 650 kin2 and is situated in the Tinsukia District of eastern minimumof 5ø C. Relativehumidity is 64-86%. Assam (Figure 1), at an altitudeof 90-100 m above mean sea level. The Dibru-Saikhowa forest was declared a "Wildlife Sanctuary" in 1986 with the primary aim of protectingthe endangeredWhite-winged Wood Duck Caidna scutulata. Wet at;is 27 % ß !_..:•8•diii-::.. ,, 34% -'•.• .•Jaterloggecarea Grassland Sandy area 12 % Figure1. Mapof Dibru-saikhowaWildlife Sanctuary. Figure2. Landuse patternof Dibru-saikhowaWildlife Sanctuary. 80 METHODS Key Seasonality The surveywas conductedduring 14 tripsto the WLS R Resident duringvarious seasons from 1990 to 1994. All sightings of waders in the sanctuarywere recorded. Apart from M Migratory direct field observations, informationfrom local people, B Breedingrecorded forestguards and forestofficials were also gathered. The R? Status unknown/confused waderswere identifiedand verifiedfollowing All & Ripley (1983) and Sonobe& Usui (1993). B? Breedingstatus unknown Abundance RESULTS AND DISCUSSION C Common r Rare As per IWRB's definitionof waders(as used in Asian Mid- winterWaterfowl Census),the speciesrecorded during vr Very rare the studyperiod are summarisedin Table 1. Table 1. Waders of Dibru-SaikhowaWildlife Sanctuary, Assam. Charadriidae Abundanc Seasonality A total of 19 speciesof waders belongingto five families e and 12 generawere observed. Red-wattledLapwing Red wattledLapwing Vane#us C R? Vane#usindicus, River Lapwing Vane#usduvaucelii, and indicus MarshSandpiper Tringa stagnat#is were all seen in the NorthernLapwing Vane#us vane#us r M sanctuaryeven in summer months. Apart from these three species,all the otherswere undoubtedlymigratory RiverLapwing Vane#us duvaucelii r RB? waders. Migratorywaders visit the sanctuaryduring Greyheaded Lapwing Vane#us C M winter, between October and March. The study reveals cinereus that seven speciesof wader are common in Dibru- Long-billedRinged Plover r M Charad#usplacidus Saikhowa WLS, while ten species are rare and two Grey PloverPluvialis squatarola r M speciesare very rare to the sanctuary. Glareolidae Dibru-SaikhowaWLS providessuitable habitat for Small Indian Pratincole Glareola C M waders, as well as other aquatic and terrestrial birds, due lactea to its topography,vegetation, vast wetlandsand Scolopacidae waterloggedareas. It is not only the swamps, marshland, MarshSandpiper T#nga stagnab7is C R lakes and other seasonal and perennialwetlands that GreenSandpiper T#nga ochropus C M providesuitable habitat for a number of waders in the sanctuary. As the sanctuary is situated betweenthe south RedshankT#nga totanus C M bank of the river Brahmaputraand the north bank of the GreenshankTfinga nebula#a r M River Dibru. the shore area of the river banks also CommonSandpiper Actitis C M providesunique ecologicalopportunities for a wide variety hypoleucos of waders and the species diversityis high in these areas. CommonSnipe Gallinago gallinago r M The sanctuarycan be regarded as potentiallyone of the richestsites for waders in Assam. Furthersurveys in the Little Stint Calid#s minuta r M sanctuarymay revealthe presenceof even more wader CurlewNumenius arquata r M species. WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus vr M Rostratulidae REFERENCES PaintedSnipe Rostratula r M benghalensis Recurvirostridae All, S. & Ripley,S.D. 1983. Handbookofthe birdsoflndia and Pakistan. OxfordUniversity Press. New Delhi. Black-wingedStilt Himantopus r M hirnantopus Sonobe,K. & Usui, S. (Eds). 1993. A Fieldguide to the waterbirds Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta vr M of Asia. WildbirdSociety of Japan,Tokyo. 81 .