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Romanian Journal of Biology - Zoology
ROMANIAN ACADEMY |
HERONRIES ON A POPULOUS URBAN AGGLOMERATION AND SUBURBS ON THE SOUTHWEST COAST OF INDIA: NESTING SPECIES AND NESTING TREES
PATHISSERY JOHN SARLIN*, SANCIA MORRIS** , SAVIO MORRIS***, SANDIE MORRIS****, POLYCARP JOSEPH *****
Abstract:
Despite the invaluable ecosystem services provided by the wetlands and the wetland birds, the habitat that is grappling with the reverberations of climate change is increasingly subjected to anthropogenic disturbances worldwide and is deteriorating and decimated incessantly. The present study was conducted in the Indian state of Kerala on the South-western coast of India, during breeding season coinciding with the South-West Monsoon (June-August 2021) to document the existing and previously unknown heronries of the landscape. 22 heronries comprising of five species were documented. The Indian Pond Heron (PH) and Little Egrets (LE) with presence in almost all the sites, dominated the survey neck and neck with 782 (43.5%) and 763 (42.4%) nests respectively. Cormorants were confined to very few sites (5) and built 252 (14.0%) nests and 216 (12.0%) by Little Cormorant (LC) and 36 (2.0%) by Indian Cormorants (IC). Only a single nest (0.06%) of Purple heron was found during the survey, inconspicuously placed in a Reed bed. A total of 28 species of trees and one Reed Bed were utilized by the birds for nesting during the survey period. The results indicate how the colonial nesting water birds are faring in the district and provide a concrete baseline for future conservation and management work.
Citation:
PATHISSERY JOHN SARLIN*, SANCIA MORRIS** , SAVIO MORRIS***, SANDIE MORRIS****, POLYCARP JOSEPH *****, 2022. HERONRIES ON A POPULOUS URBAN AGGLOMERATION AND SUBURBS ON THE SOUTHWEST COAST OF INDIA: NESTING SPECIES AND NESTING TREES, Romanian Journal of Biology - Zoology, 67(1-2): 57–72.
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