Birds in Agroforestry Systems of Ayodhya District, Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

With the fast depletion of area under forest cover due to various anthropogenic factors, it is important that conservation of wild fauna must be focused in human-dominated landscapes such as agroforestry systems. It important to understand the bird diversity of agroforestry systems to develop a baseline to formulate policies encouraging trees in agricultural fields. Fixed radius point counts were placed across the agroforestry systems in Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh to determine the diversity and distribution of birds in these systems. A total of 148 bird species belonging to 53 families and 16 orders were recorded from the study area. Passeriformes (76) had the maximum number of bird species. Omnivore (51%) was the dominant feeding guild. According to their residential status, the maximum bird species were resident (76%), followed by winter visitors (21%) and summer visitors (3%). Out of the 148 bird species recorded, eight species were in the threatened category of IUCN Red List and 28 species were rarely sighted birds. This result proves that the agroforestry systems provide a good habitat for the terrestrial as well as waterbirds thus, highlighting the conservation value of this system. Such land use types must therefore be promoted and widely practiced all across the state.