Birds remind every city-dweller of 'nature', generally not considered an urban entity. Because of their ability to fly, even a multi-storeyed apartment resident is familiar with at least rock pigeons, common mynas and house crows. Despite being a densely packed city, many other species of birds seem to have found suitable habitats within the city of Ahmedabad, India. Some of the habitats include:
During the summer months in Ahmedabad, migratory bird species leave the city for their home countries. The ones that we see during these months are generally the resident birds, that breed and stay in their respective areas. Local migrations happen for some birds that leave for other parts of the country. Some migratory ones that are left behind are called vagrants. Point transect method has been applied for this particular study. Animals that move around a lot or which might be easily disturbed, such as birds and hence, can be studied with point transect method. Birds seen or heard by an observer standing at a particular point transect are recorded in this method. Initially to locate the sites to study, I went around the city on roads or along the banks of the river Sabarmati. Promising variations in the habitat physiognomy helped me narrow down my study to three transects and their thirteen sites. Two common characteristics of all sites were - The presence of high avian biodiversity or variety of bird species (as compared to all the sites I studied) - The presence of a high number of a particular population of bird species either because of their roosting, nesting or feeding preferences. Different point transects in the site were studied and the ones with the maximum apparent bird movements (for various reasons like the presence of water body, food availability, point transect falling on the edge of two or more habitats) were chosen to further study. The site study involved the following:
Roosting and nesting points are as observed on the sites and are definitely not exhaustive.
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