Avifaunal diversity in different croplands of Nalgonda District, Telangana, Southern India

A field survey was conducted during the period December 2010 to March 2011 to obtain the checklist, density, diversity and richness of birds in six different agricultural habitats viz., Paddy, Cotton, Castor, Red gram, Fruit garden and Open grassland. The study was carried out from December 2010 to March 2011. A total of 104 species of birds belonging to 43 families and 16 orders were recorded in the study area, two bird species are Near Threatened in ‘IUCN’ (2010) category, Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster and White Ibis or Black-headed Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus. Of six major foraging categories, insectivorous birds and perching activity accounted for high percentage in all the habitats. ANOVA shows that there were a significant differences between the bird density and among the areas and months (P<0.05). However, among the habitats the bird diversity did not differ significantly but, bird species richness showed significant variations among the areas, habitats and months (P<0.05). Chi-square analysis revealed that there was a significant differences between species richness and among the habitats (2=43.07, df=6, P<0.05).