Nesting Preferences of Birds in Relation to Exotic Trees in Ludhiana, Punjab

Birds have very close association with trees. Trees offer a platform to birds for nesting, roosting, foraging, breeding and feeding purposes. The introduction of exotic (non-native) flora can effect or modify inherent species richness, communal alignment and species abundance, as well as species relationships and communal structure. Birds are exclusively sensitive to alterations both in terms of environmental and ecological. Introduction of exotic trees and human disturbance have also affected the bird diversity. The main objective of the present study was to find out the nesting preference of avian species in relation to exotic trees at two selected locations i.e. Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (Location I) and Gurpal Nagar, Ludhiana (Location II) from June 2018 to July 2019. Five different exotic trees species selected were Safeda (Eucalyptus tereticornis), Poplar (Populus deltoides), Bottle brush (Callistemon viminalis), Monkey Puzzle (Araucaria araucana), Silver Oak (Grivillea robusta). A total 31 nests (6 on Bottle brush tree, 2 on Silver oak tree, 7 on Poplar tree, 16 on Eucalyptus tree) were recorded. Out of these, 5 nests were of Baya weaver Ploceus philippinus, 4 nests were of Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri, 20 nests were of House Crow Corvus splendens and 2 nests were of Common Myna Acridotheres tristis. Four bird species were observed nesting at location I while only one was observed at location II. Less bird diversity recorded was at location II (8) as compared to location I (23) because of the anthropogenic activities which disturbed the natural habitat at that location

Traffic noise affects forest bird species in a protected tropical forest

The construction of roads near protected forest areas alters ecosystem function by creating habitat fragmentation and through several direct and indirect negative effects such as increased pollution, animal mortality through collisions, disturbance caused by excessive noise and wind turbulence. Noise in particular may have strong negative effects on animal groups such as frogs and birds, that rely on sound for communication as it can negatively interfere with vocalizations used for territorial defense or courtship. Thus, birds are expected to be less abundant close to the road where noise levels are high. In this study, we examined the effects of road traffic noise levels on forest bird species in a protected tropical forest in Costa Rica. Data collection was conducted in a forest segment of the Carara National Park adjacent to the Coastal Highway. We carried out 120 ten minute bird surveys and measured road noise levels 192 times from the 19th to the 23rd of April and from the 21st to the 28th of November, 2008. To maximize bird detection for the species richness estimates we operated six 12m standard mist nets simultaneously with the surveys. The overall mist-netting effort was 240net/h. In addition, we estimated traffic volumes by tallying the number of vehicles passing by the edge of the park using 24 one hour counts throughout the study. We found that the relative abundance of birds and bird species richness decreased significantly with the increasing traffic noise in the dry and wet season. Noise decreased significantly and in a logarithmic way with distance from the road in both seasons. However, noise levels at any given distance were significantly higher in the dry compared to the wet season. Our results suggest that noise might be an important factor influencing road bird avoidance as measured by species richness and relative abundance. Since the protected forest in question is located in a national park subjected to tourist visitation, these results have conservation as well as management implications. A decrease in bird species richness and bird abundance due to intrusive road noise could negatively affect the use of trails by visitors. Alternatives for noise attenuation in the affected forest area include the enforcement of speed limits and the planting of live barriers. Rev. Biol. Trop. 59 (2): 969-980. Epub 2011 June 01.

Las carreteras cerca de bosques alteran la función del ecosistema por fragmentación del hábitat y tienen otros efectos negativos como contaminación, mortalidad de animales y ruido excesivo; sobre todo en animales como ranas y aves que dependen del sonido para comunicarse. Se espera menos abundancia de aves cerca de la carretera donde el ruido es alto. Este estudio evalúa los efectos del ruido por carretera sobre las aves en un bosque tropical de Costa Rica. También realizamos censos de aves y medimos el ruido del 19 al 23 de abril y del 21 al 28 de noviembre 2008. Además, utilizamos redes de niebla para maximizar la detección de aves en la estimación de riqueza de especies. La abundancia de aves así como la riqueza de especies decrecieron significativamente con el incremento del ruido tanto en la estación seca como en la lluviosa. El ruido disminuyó en forma logarítmica con el aumento en la distancia a la carretera y fue más alto durante la estación seca. Nuestros resultados sugieren que las aves tienden generalmente a evitar el ruido del tráfico y tienen implicaciones en la conservación y manejo del área protegida.

Observation on ornithofauna of Kocaeli-Yuvacik dam watershed in Turkey.

The objective of this study was to determine the bird species in the Yuvacik Dam watershed in the province of Kocaeli. The total area of the study site was 25800 ha, and was subdivided to 60 plots (the size of each plot, 2×2 km). Observations and inventory for each species were carried out. A total of 130 species belonging to 38 genus of 16 orders were identified. Eighty-seven were classified as Passeriformes. Forty two species breed in the region. A total of 21223 birds were counted. According to IUCN criteria, two species, (Ficedula semitorquata (Von H., 1885) and Sitta krueperi (Pelzeln, 1863), were categorized as near threatened (NT).

Aves da Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, estado de São Paulo, Brasil / Birds of the Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, State of São Paulo, Brazil

O cerrado é um dos biomas mais ameaçados no mundo, apresentando algumas das maiores taxas de destruição causadas principalmente pela agropecuária. Poucos estudos têm avaliado a diversidade local de aves no cerrado, especialmente em áreas marginais desse bioma. A Estação Ecológica de Itirapina (EEI) contém um dos últimos remanescentes de campos naturais e cerrados do estado de São Paulo. Um levantamento das aves desta unidade de conservação, feito tanto por observações casuais como sistemáticas entre 1998 e 2007, e complementado por revisão de literatura, revelou que 231 espécies apresentaram ocorrência recente na área. Desse total, 38 espécies (16,4 por cento) encontram-se na lista de espécies ameaçadas para o estado de São Paulo e/ou são endêmicas do Cerrado, um alto número quando comparado com outras áreas de cerrados paulistas ou mesmo em relação ao Brasil Central. Tal fato reforça a importância da EEI em relação à conservação da avifauna e demonstra que a mesma está mantendo sua função de conservar a biodiversidade. Adicionalmente, ao longo dos 10 anos de estudo foram detectadas várias ameaças à EEI, e neste sentido são recomendadas aqui algumas sugestões de manejo que consideramos essenciais para essa unidade de conservação manter ou mesmo aumentar sua diversidade de aves.

Currently the Cerrado biome is one of the most threatened in the world because high taxes of destruction, mostly by agriculture and cattle. Few assessments of local bird diversity have been made in this biome, particularly in non core areas. The Estação Ecológica de Itirapina (EEI) maintains one of the last natural grassland savannah remnants of state of São Paulo, south-east Brazil. We conducted casual and systematic observations of birds in this reserve between 1998 and 2007, which altogether with additional literature revision yielded 231 species with recent occurrence. We report 38 species (16.4 percent) threatened with extinction in São Paulo and/or endemic to the Cerrado Region, an impressive result in comparison to other cerrado areas in São Paulo and even in Central Brazil. These results reinforce the importance of EEI for bird conservation and mean EEI is maintaining its function as a conservation unity. However, as a result of several menaces observed to this reserve during our ten years study, we suggest some management practices for the maintenance or even increasing of bird diversity in this reserve.