Wet land avifauna of Raichur in North Karnataka

Abstract

Raichur town is located between two major river systems of peninsular south India namely, Krishna and Tungabhadra. This area presents a unique climate of semiarid type, typical of this region.Apart from the two major lotic ecosystems, Raichur area presents a number of lentic water bodies, which support a large diversity of avifauna. The present study incorporates the survey of bird species supported by the four major wetland areas, which can be classified as large ponds, namely Manchalapur, Merchad, Samundar talab and Aam talab. Productivity studies of the water body and survey of wetland avifauna was undertaken during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon seasons of one annual cycle. The survey depicts that 39 species of birds belonging to 12 families frequent these water bodies. The abundance of avifauna is reported to be due to the productivity of these wetlands, which is ascertained by statistical analysis. Copyright© Enviromedia.