Diversity of Avifauna and Their Heterogeneous Habitat Preference in Barrackpore and its' Surrounding Areas, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India

As members of ecosystems, birds play many roles, including as predators, pollinators, scavengers, seed dispersers, ecosystem engineers and act as bioindicators for measuring environmental health. Information is scanty on avian diversity with respect to the different habitats of Barrackpore and its’ surrounding areas, town of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India. Therefore, the present study attempts to gain insight into avian diversity with respect to habitat heterogeneity during the survey period (August 2021 to July 2022). 50 bird species and 552 individuals distributed over 29 families are observed and identified in the study area at different locations like human habitats, riverbanks, wetlands, grasslands and woody areas. Due to loss of natural habitats specialist birds are gradually replaced by habitat generalists. Species dominance is found high in and around grassland. No. of individuals are more in and around riverbanks mainly for diverse vegetation. River banks and grassland have highest similarity index in terms of species composition. Human habitat has highest species richness and are enjoyed by most no. of species, probably due to presence of various resource materials in large amount exploited by the birds. Areas having human settlements show more opportunistic ones. An overall negative impact of human settlements on avian population and abundance is evidenced from the present study. More intensive studies may enrich us about avian diversity and distribution pattern of the study zone. The natural habitats for these avian species are being destroyed at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic activities. To save this urban avifaunal diversity awareness in the local people about the ecosystem and environment is needed.