Birds in agricultural fields of Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh

Birds play a crucial role in functioning of the agro-ecosystems. It is important to understand the bird diversity of agricultural fields to develop a baseline for continuous monitoring of ecosystem changes in future. This study was carried out by plotting fixed radius point counts in the agricultural fields across Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh to determine the diversity and distribution of birds in agro-ecosystems of the study area. A total of 128 bird species belonging to 49 families and 15 orders were recorded from the study area. Passeriformes (71) had the maximum number of bird species. The highest number of species recorded were Omnivores (35%). Out of the 128 bird species recorded, six species were in the threatened category of IUCN Red List (2021) which highlights the conservation value of agricultural landscapes in Uttar Pradesh.