Diversity, Abundance and Distribution of Avifauna in District Jhang, Pakistan

Abstract The current study was conducted from March 2021 to February 2022 in Thal desert and Trimmu barrage of District Jhang located in Punjab province of Pakistan to find out the diversity, abundance and distribution of birds. Point count method was used for Trimmu barrage and line transect method was used for the collection of data in Thal desert area. We recorded 31696 individuals belonging to 67 species of birds from two distinct types of habitat (Thal desert and Trimmu barrage) of District Jhang. Among all these species, 39 species were resident, 18 species were winter visitors, 9 species were summer breeder and single species (Terek sandpiper) was passage migrant. Highly significant differences (X2 = 14979.7, df = 11, P<0.01) were observed in the abundance of birds between both habitats on monthly basis. From Thal desert area, 12905 individuals of 45 species were identified while 18791 individual from 58 bird species were observed from Trimmu barrage. Among 67 bird species, 36 species were common at both types of habitats. The most dominant species of Trimmu barrage were Common pochard, Little grebe, Common coot, Cattle egret, Gadwall, Little egret, Red wattled lapwing and Common teal. The most common species of Thal desert were Indian roller, Common quail, Cattle egret, Common myna and Indian kite. The most notable feature of the present study is the identification of Xenus cinereus (Terak sandpiper) and Ammomanes phoenicura (Rofous tail lark) in district Jhang as both species have no previous record in the study area.