The team includes Maxim Rodrigues K, an avid bird watcher and founder of Kasaragod Birders team, Vineeth Kumar K, principal, Centre For Advanced Learning, Vivek Hasyagar, researcher and PhD scholar, who is working on earthworm ecology in the department of applied zoology, Mangalore University, Prashantha Krishna MC, a chemist, and Deepak Naik, guest faculty in the department of applied zoology, Mangalore University.
Providing details about the study, that was published in the ‘Journal of Threatened Taxa’ on Thursday, Vineeth Kumar said that the study on avifaunal diversity was carried out on the Mangalore University campus, along with some adjoining areas. For the last eight years, Mangalore University also hosts a campus bird count, as a part of the backyard bird count organised by Bird Count India. A total 150 bird species belonging to 18 orders and 56 families, were recorded during the study.
As per IUCN Red List (IUCN 2021), the campus supports three near-threatened species, that includes woolly-necked stork (Ciconia episcopus), black-headed ibis, (Threskiornis melanocephalus), and grey-headed bulbul (Brachypodius priocephalus), and the remaining 146 species are under least concern (LC) category.
The campus also supports five species which are endemic to the Western Ghats. Some of the rare species sighted on the campus include Sri Lankan frogmouth, Ticklle’s leaf warbler, brown wood owl, Savannah nightjar and Indian scimitar babbler. An analysis of the feeding guilds of these birds revealed that 35% (53 species) were insectivorous, 28% (42 species) were omnivorous, 23% (34 species) were carnivorous, 6% (9 species) were granivorous and 4% (four species each) were frugivorous and nectarivorous, said Vineeth.
During the study period, 124 bird species were reported as residential, followed by 13 species as long-distance migratory, and 13 species as local migratory.
“Karnataka is home to 535 bird species, and we recorded 28% of species during the study at the Mangalore University campus. The study provides baseline data for monitoring the avifauna on the campus, and demonstrates the importance of the area in bird conservation,” Vineeth said.
