URBAN BIRD DIVERSITY OF SHEOPUR CITY, NORTH MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA

The high rate of Urbanization and the consequent loss of bird habitat at the global level is increasing day by day. Due to this activity challenging ecosystem will create problems in the future because more people prefer to live in the cities. The main objective of the study was to know the current status of urban bird diversity, habitat and conservation plan. Point count and Line transect methods were used for the bird survey. The various bird species were sighted through binocular and species identification was done by using different identification keys. Photograph of birds was taken by the Nikon DSLR camera and GPS locations of each study site were recorded in the datasheet. The total numbers of 90 bird species were recorded from all study sites belonging to 16 orders and 43 families. In recent times some species migrated from urban to semi-urban areas because they have not existed in narrow habitat. However, some scavengers bird seen at dead animal dumping sites. Family Columbidae was found dominant with a 6% contribution followed by families like Muscicapidae, Sturnidae, Motacillidae, Scolopacidae and Anatidae with 5% contribution each and further followed by other families with less than 5% contribution. These present results indicate that Rock dove is highly habituated in the urban ecosystem while House sparrow, Golden oriole, Grey hornbill and Egyptian vulture are sensitive species. So they are seen as local migratory species. The conservation plan is needed to develop green belts at street level and with the maintenance of the old gardens; new parks should be established in urban areas. The artificial nest (wooden nest), food (mixed grains) and water properly take place in parks. Birds are also important for the maintenance of the ecosystem because they act as an effective tool for biological pest control.