Exploring cattle sheds as complementary avifaunal habitat niches in rice dominated agricultural areas in Punjab, India

Avian diversity has often been studied in agricultural habitats, but ornithological aspect of cattle sheds has never been studied. This exploratory study was conducted with the objective of studying the potential of cattle sheds for sustaining avian abundance and diversity in rice dominated agricultural areas. The study was done in Rice Field Ecosystem (System I) and Cattle Shed Ecosystem (System II) during 2019 and 2020 monsoon crop season from selected villages, namely, Dangon, Pakhowal and Sarabha (district Ludhiana), Punjab. It was recorded that 26 avian species (mainly of grassland habitat) were present in cattle sheds from a total 34 avian species (wetland, grassland and open countryside inhabiting species) observed in rice fields, which reflected that cattle sheds support a wide proportion of avian fauna and complement rice fields in supporting and preserving avian abundance and diversity. There is immense need to explore and accordingly lay emphasis on boosting dairy as allied sector so that cattle sheds can be exploited in preservation of diverse avian populations and thereby reinforcing approach of sustainable agriculture. Keywords: Avian diversity, Avian feeding guilds, Cattle Shed, Grassland birds, Rice crop