Study of the Diversity of Birds With Seasonal Variation and Habitat Types of Godawari and its Adjacent Regions

Abstract

This work was carried out in and around Godawari, south east of the capitalcity, Kathmandu, Nepal with the objectives to assess the species diversity, species-richness and status of birds with seasonal variation and habitat types. For seasonal diversity of bird species four seasons (summer, autumn, winter and spring) were taken while the area was broadly divided into six habitat types (broadleaved subtropicalforest, wooded grassland, human habitation edge, agricultural land, wetland and moistbroadleaved lower temperate forest), for the assessment of species diversity in the major habitats of the study area. For the whole survey line transect method was adopted. Only primary data were used. Direct count method was applied to census the birds. Species diversity and relative diversity of the birds were calculated by using Shannon-Wiener function and Jacob’s coefficient. Altogether 161 birds species belonging to 11 orders and 36 families were observed in the study area. The highest number of species, one hundred and twenty seven(78.88%) was represented by the order passeriformes while the lowest number of species one (0.62%), was represented by the order apodiformes, upupiformes,coraciformes and ciconiformes each. Out of 161 species, 109 (67.7%) species were resident species, 30 (18.63%)were winter visitor, 19 species (11.8%) were summer visitor and 3 species (1.86%)were passage migrant. This showed that the area is paradise for the resident birds.Similarly the highest species-richness was in subtropical broadleaved forest 106 species (65.83%) and the lowest in wetland 17 species (10.55%). The highest speciesdiversity index was found in broadleaved subtropical forest (1.9035) and the lowest inhuman habitation edge (0.9896). Similarly relative diversity index was also found to be highest in broadleaved subtropical forest (0.9398) and the lowest in human habitation (0.7485). Among the four seasons, the highest species-richness was found in winter 127 species(78.88%) and the lowest in autumn 100 species (62.11%). The highest species diversity index was found in winter (1.9355) and the lowest in autumn (1.8219).Similarly, the relative diversity was found to be highest in spring (0.9274) and the lowest in summer (0.9100). This result showed that the most favourable season was winter and the least favourable was autumn. The above figures of species-richness indifferent seasons and different habitats of the study area are not a cumulative figure because several birds have been seen in more than one habitat type and season.