Diversity of early winter migrants and resident birds in an important Ramsar site: Nal Sarovar, Gujarat, India

The study is mostly based on the avian community observed in the region. In total, 2658 individuals, 33 genera and 36 species of birds belonging to 20 families have been recorded. Among them, the family Sturnidae with 34.6% incidence is the most frequent; immediately followed by the family Laridae. Brown-headed Gull (Larus brunnicephalus) is the most abundant avian species observed. The community consists of 61% Resident; 31% Resident migrant and 8% Migrant bird species. It was observed that the concerned community shows a considerable diversity and a corresponding low value of dominance. In the feeding guild analysis the aquatic invertebrate-feeder guild has the most number of avian species. The feeding guild affiliations also points out that the overall community is fairly rich in its composition as it houses bird species belonging to various feeding guilds.