BIRD POPULATIONS - Birdpop.org

BIRDS OF NAMERI NATIONAL PARKThe subtropical monsoon climate of the regionis characterised by heavy rainfall with an annualaverage of 3,500mm. The predominance of thesouthwest monsoon causes precipitation to behighly seasonal (Barthakur 1986). Most of therain falls between May and September, whichforms the summer (hot) season. Winters(October to April) are usually cool and dry,although rains are not uncommon. The averagetemperature varies from a low of 5ºC in winterto a high of 37ºC in summer. The relativehumidity is high, and varies between 65 and>90%. Forest and woodland cover the majorityof the park (94%, i.e.188 km 2 ). Grasslands arefound along the banks of the Jia-Bhorelli Riverand its tributaries and cover an area of 10 km 2(5%). The remaining 2 km 2 (1%) is formed byvarious river beds. Nameri is covered bytropical evergreen, semi-evergreen and moistdeciduous forest with cane and bamboo brakesand narrow strips of open grassland alongrivers. Grasslands comprise >10% of the totalarea of the park while the semi-evergreen andmoist deciduous species dominate the area. Thevegetation of the park is a mosaic of four majorforest types (Champion and Seth 1968): (1)eastern alluvial secondary semi-evergreen forest,(2) low alluvial savannah woodland, (3) easterndillenia swamp forest, and (4) wet bambooforest (usually found along streams or on badlydrained hollows), with areas of cane brakesformed by Calamus tenuis. Orchids includeDendrobium, Cymbidium, and Ladies Sleeper,along with tree ferns and lianas; creepers aresome of the specialties of this forest.Parts of the area were designated as NauduarReserve Forest in 1876 and Nameri WildlifeSanctuary in 1985. The present Nameri NationalPark was formed in1988. Considerable commercialtimber exploitation and intensiveextraction of canebrakes has taken place, andhabitat has been further degraded throughlivestock grazing. In recent years, cattle campshave been evicted to reduce grazing pressure,resulting in grassland regeneration in someareas. A belt of reserved forests contiguous tothe park forms a buffer, but which is now beingencroached upon for homesteads and cultivation.This has resulted in further fragmentationof the park, which in turn is becomingprogressively insular.RESULTSLike most areas in North-East India, Nameri hasbeen poorly surveyed for avian species. Nopublished checklist of the birds of the parkexists, although there is some literature relatingto birds in the neighboring Pakhui WildlifeSanctuary of Arunachal Pradesh (Datta et al.1998; Singh 1991, 1994). Fieldwork has mostlydone in Nameri during all seasons from 2005 toSeptember 2009, although less intensively priorto 2004. Before then records were kept fromecotourism excursions in the park. Bird speciesfrom Nameri are recorded in Talukdar (1997),Talukdar and Das (1997), Dymond (1998),Hendriks (1998), and Barua and Sharma (1999);see also the IUCN Red List (Bird Life International2004).A total of 374 bird species have been recordedfrom Nameri (see Appendix, Table 1). Theseinclude nine globally threatened species (threeCritically Endangered, four Endangered, sevenVulnerable and eight Near-Threatened), many ofwhich are dependent on forest. The parkTABLE 1. Major bird watching areas of Nameri National Park. Locations identified during field surveys in2004-2009; A-Available, NA-Not Available.Resident Migratory Grassland Hill birds Hill birdsLocality Birds Birds Birds in winter year roundPotasali (Watch tower) A A A A NAKurua Beel A A NA A ABorghulli Beel A A A A NAMagurmari beel A A NA A NABalipung area A A A A NAAlong Jiabhoreli River A A A NA NANear Bogijuli Nala NA A A A A[39]