Avifaunal diversity in and around Berhampore, Murshidabad district, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Avifauna are important for the ecosystem as they play various roles as scavenger, pollinators, seeds dispersal agent and predators of insect pest and an important indicator to evaluate different habitats both qualitatively and quantitatively. 13% of the world’s bird fauna are found in Indian sub-continent. Estimated 1228 bird species diversity found in India. Berhampore is a district town located in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, India has 64 species of birds belonging to 34 families. Among the recorded species, 71.87% were resident, 15.62% were local migrant and 12.50% were winter migrant species. The order Passeriformes represented by 15 families and 22 species, dominated the birds community of the study area. It accounted for 34.37% of the total number of bird species in study area. In order Passeriformes, family Sturnidae has five species. In which common myna (Acridotheres tristis) are most abundant in the study area.