GUWAHATI
A survey conducted in one of western Assam’s most important wetlands has yielded 47 species of waterfowl.
A 40-member team comprising conservation NGO Aaranyak, students of Abhayapur College, and local youths carried out the survey in Bongaigaon district’s Doloni Beel on February 21.
“Doloni is one of the most important natural water reservoirs of western Assam with a good bird diversity compared to other wetlands. The wetland also provides livelihoods to the local people,” the NGO’s Bibhab Talukdar said.
The team recorded 47 species of wetland birds and 1,847 individuals during the survey conducted in association with the Botany and Zoology departments of Abhayapuri College and the Aie Valley Forest Division.
Some of the prominent species recorded were the red-crested pochard, ferruginous pochard, tufted duck, gadwall, Eurasian wigeon, fulvous whistling teal and the lesser adjutant stork.
“The participants were acquainted with the method of counting birds before they got down to carrying out the survey at different locations in the Doloni Beel in groups of five,” Aaranyak’s senior scientist Udayan Borthakur said.
A similar exercise was carried out by the Guwahati Wildlife Division of the Assam Forest Department at Deepar Beel, Assam’s only Ramsar site on the outskirts of Guwahati. Altogether 26,747 birds belonging to 96 species were recorded during that count.
Published - March 05, 2023 09:23 am IST
