Inventory of Migratory Water birds in the coastal areas of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India.

A comprehensive inventory of migratory water birds along the coast of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, India, identified 51 species across seven orders and ten families during a two-year study from July 2020 to June 2022. The research highlights significant avian diversity, with Scolopacidae being the most represented family (16 species) due to winter aggregation of migratory waders. Conservation concerns were noted for four Near Threatened species and one each Vulnerable and Endangered species. Diversity indices (Shannon H’ = 0.892, Evenness J’ = 0.226, Simpson D = 0.286) were low due to the dominance of the Lesser Whistling-duck (Dendrocygna javanica), which accounted for 9015 individuals in coastal wetlands and bheries during winter. The study underscores the need for further exploration and conservation efforts in this understudied region, which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China.

Basu Roy, A., Chatterjee, L., Khan, A., Panja, B., Samanta, T., & Jana, S. (2023). Inventory of Migratory Water birds in the coastal areas of Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal, India. Cuadernos de Biodiversidad, (65), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.14198/cdbio.23488