Avifauna of “Pena thathh”: A lesser known wetland in Banni grassland of Kachchh district, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Banni is the largest grassland (2,617 km2) of India situated in the Kachchh district of Gujarat state, India. Some perennial and seasonal wetlands are available in this grassland, which are supporting large number of resident and migratory birds. Among them Pena thathh, is a lesser known perennial wetland located inside the Banni Grassland Conservation Reserve, adjacent to the Greater Rann of Kachchh. An attempt was made to study for assessment and documentation of avi-faunal component of this wetland. Various surveys were conducted and the avifauna of this wetland was recorded using Flock and block count methods. A total of 1631 individual of birds of 56 species, belongs to 42 genera under 25 families were enumerated. A total 19 species of terrestrial bird belong to 13 genera and 12 families, and total of 37 species of aquatic birds belongs to 29 genera and 13 families were recorded. Out of the 56 species of bird, 23 species were migratory and 5 species were under threatened category of IUCN. Among the aquatic bird recorded from the wetland, the relative percentage higher of omnivorous and insectivorous birds while the relative percentage of insectivorous and granivorous bird was recorded higher among terrestrial birds from the wetland system.