A checklist of the winter bird community in different habitat types of Rosekandy Tea Estate of Assam, India

Abstract

This study was aimed at preparing an inventory of the avifauna and to document the species composition of birds during winter in different habitat types of Rosekandy Tea Estate of Cachar District of Assam. Four habitat types, viz., tea plantation, ecotone zone, secondary growth forest and water bodies were selected within the tea estate and surveyed from mid-December 2010 (early winter) to mid-April 2011 (late winter) covering four months of survey. A total of 88 species were recorded during the survey period with the highest number of species in ecotone zone (n=63), followed by secondary forest (n=60), tea plantation (n=48) and water bodies (n=17). The species were further categorized into different feeding and habitat guilds to study the distribution of bird species in different habitat types according to various guilds.