Checklist of the avifauna of Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary , Maharashtra , India

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Historical aspect
This was a densely wooded area during the British Raj.In the days before independence the hills near the temple were green and though there were no big carnivores in this jungle other variety of fauna were well represented.The animals that lived in this wilderness were hyena, jackal, wolf, hare, etc.There were no herbivores like Blackbuck, Sambar, Spotted Deer and Barking Deer which are now seen at Sagareshwar.
After independence the situation changed.Cutting down of trees, hunting and grazing became a norm and within a short span of 2-3 decades the hills turned barren and the sighting of animals became rare.
Mr. D.M. Mohite, a resident of a nearby village Mohityache Vadgaon, was disturbed to see this wanton destruction of the forest and its denizens.In the decade of 1970 he took up the task to restore this wilderness to some degree and make it a safe haven for animals to live and thrive.The word about his intentions spread and many volunteers joined in this noble task.His tenacity and sincerity attracted more people in this endeavour and eventually the Government of Maharashtra declared Sagareshwar as a wildlife sanctuary in 1985 (Mohite 1996).
There is hardly any literature published on the birds of Sagareshwar except by Tuljapurkar (1992) where he mentions the occurrence of 40 bird species.The current study is the first systematic effort to document avifauna of this sanctuary.The study period encompasses 17 years of information on avifauna of the region.
The Wildlife Sanctuary is spread over an area of 10.87km 2 (Fig. 1).The average rainfall is 640mm and the temperature ranges between 14-42 0 C. The terrain is uneven, with elevations, slopes of hills, valleys and small stretches of plateaus.The sanctuary faces acute shortage of water during summer months as there are no perennial streams or ponds.The forest department has built artificial water holes and they are replenished regularly during the summer season.
The flora of Sagareshwar is quite interesting.Southern tropical dry type of vegetation occupies large parts of the sanctuary and the area covered by dense forest is merely 8.86% which is approximately 99 hectares or 248 acres.The trees include Butea monosperma, Acacia catechu, Semecarpus anacardium, Anogeissus latifolia, Morinda pubescens, Osyris quadripartita, Morinda tinctoria variety tomentosa, Ixora parviflora, Rhus sinuata, Buchanania lanzan, Bauhinia racemosa, etc., and these are seen scattered over the area.Delonix regia, Albizia lebbeck, Bauhinia purpurea, Tamarindus indica and Azadirachta indica were planted by volunteers and the forest department.The tree Dichrostachys cinerea, also known as Chinese Lantern, has established in barren and degraded slopes of the sanctuary.Carissa carandas has formed thickets at places which help different species of birds.The climbers growing in the upper part of the hills belong to the Asclepidiaceae family.
Several species of herbs emerge from the wet earth during the rainy season.Evolvulus alsinoides, Cyanotis fasciculata, Boerhavia diffusa and Leucas aspera are commonly found here and add colour to the green landscape.A variety of leguminous forage plant, Stylosanthes hamata, has been introduced in Sagareshwar by the forest department.
The sanctuary is home to various native as well as introduced animals.The most significant are ungulates including Sambar Rusa unicolor, Spotted Deer Axis axis (Cervidae), and Blackbuck Antelope cervicapra (Bovidae).Other mammals include, the Wild Boar Sus scrofa, Striped Hyena Hyena hyena, Indian Wolf Canis lupus, Indian Fox Vulpes bengalensis, Black-naped Hare Lepus nigricollis, Jungle Cat Felis chaus, and Common Mongoose Herpestes edwardsi.There are at least three species of unidentified insectivorous bats found in some caves in the valley.
Amongst reptiles, six species of snakes, namely, Spectacled Cobra Naja naja, Saw-scaled Viper Echis carinatus, Striped Keelback Amphiesma stolata, Green Keelback Macropisthodon plumbicolor, Rat Snake Ptyas mucosa, and Common Wolf Snake Lycodon aulicus, are found here.Among lizards, three species, namely, Indian Monitor Lizard Varanus benghalensis, Garden Lizard Calotes versicolor, and Fan-throated Lizard Sarada sp. have been observed.About four species of amphibians, namely, Indian Bull Frog Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, Indian Burrowing Frog Sphaerotheca breviceps, Common Indian Tree Frog Polypedates maculatus, and Asian Common Toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus, have been recorded from the sanctuary.As many as 20 species of butterflies have been recorded from the sanctuary (Jathar unpublished data).

Survey
We followed BirdLife International (2014) version 7 for taxonomy and nomenclature of bird species recorded in the sanctuary.Along with this, we also categorized the birds according to their status, occurrence, threatened, and endemicity.A wetland named Kumbhargao Talav which is adjacent to the sanctuary and now added in it was also included in the survey.
The data was mainly collected by the authors as part of a systematic avifaunal study, and occasional visits between 1990 and 2014.We have visited the sanctuary independently and have maintained the record of avifauna.A total of 83 visits were carried out during the study period.
The occurrence of species was defined using following criteria.Common-species observed repeatedly in suitable habitat; Uncommon-species occurs on a regular basis, but not frequently in suitable habitat; Occasional-species that were recorded occasionally in suitable habitat; Single record-species reported only once.Similarly, status of the species was defined by field observations and followinng (Ali & Ripley 1987).Endemic status was followed using (Jathar & Rahmani 2006).The IUCN Red List status was followed using (Rahmani 2012).

Results
A total of 138 bird species (Appendix I) were observed during the period from 1990 to 2014.Among these, 71 species are resident, 24 are winter migrants, 21 are local migrant, and nine species are breeding migrants.The status of 13 species could not be determined.Of the total diversity, 87 species were common, 42 were recorded occasional (irregular), one was uncommon and seven were recorded only once.There are no globally threatened species found in Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (WS).We, however, recorded Pallid Harrier Circus macroursus which is a Near Threatened species at the global scale.Sagareshwar WS also harbours three Indian endemic and 23 South Asian endemic bird species.All the details are given in Appendix I.
Most of the water birds are local migrants to the Sagareshwar WS.They visit the Sagareshwar WS when seasonal ponds and small check dams retain water in monsoon and post monsoon months.Kumbhargaon Lake which is now included in the Sagareshwar WS area, has added several new bird species to the checklist, especially the migrants.
Painted Francolin Francolinus pictus, Rain Quail Coturnix coromandelica, Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinus migrate to the Sagareshwar WS to breed during the monsoon.The Indian Blackbird Turdus simillimus and Black-headed Cuckoo-shrike Coracina melanoptera are breeding migrants to the Sagareshwar WS.They spend about eight months in the sanctuary from April to November.Interestingly, cuckoos such as Jacobin Cuckoo Clamator jacobinus, Common Hawk-cuckoo Hierococcyx varius, Grey-bellied Cuckoo Cacomantis passerines also come to the Sagareshwar WS during the same period (April to November).This may be due to the host-parasite relationship between these bird species.
The local migrants such as Thick-billed Flowerpecker Dicaeum agile, Pale-billed Flowerpecker Dicaeum erythrorhynchos, Indian Blackbird Turdus simillimus, Black-headed Cuckoo-shrike Coracina melanoptera arrive in Sagareshwar WS (probably) from the Western Ghats during the monsoon.Some of them breed here and spend a significant time of the monsoon in Sagareshwar WS.This phenomenon of monsoon migration needs further investigations to understand patterns of migration, purpose of migration and the significance of the same for the breeding success of the species.
The winter migrants such as Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach, Isabelline Shrike Lanius isabellinus, Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus, Eurasian Crag-Martin Ptyonoprogne rupestris, Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca, Blyth's Reed Warbler Acrocephalus dumetorum, Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides and Rosy Starling Sternus roseus are seen in Sagareshwar WS for almost six months from early October to early April.
Savanna Nightjar Caprimulgus affinis visits the sanctuary during March to August.Though the territorial calls have been heard and recorded during this period, no active nest was observed.After August the birds leave Sagareshwar WS.During winter (November-January), Green Bee-eaters Merops orientalis gather in trees near the guest house for night roosting.

Some interesting migrants Indian Black Bird Turdus simillimus
Indian Black Bird is a breeding migrant for Sagareshwar WS.It is generally seen and can be heard in the sanctuary from June onwards till November.Territorial calls were predominant in June and July.On one occasion, a nest with a clutch of three was observed in June.Juvenile birds have been observed in August.Interestingly the bird is not seen in the sanctuary after November.It would be very interesting to study its pre and post breeding habitats.

Grey-bellied Cuckoo Cacomantis passerinus
This is also a breeding migrant to the Sagareshwar WS.
It arrives in late May (last week of May) and stays there till the last week of September.It starts calling upon arrival and can be heard till the end of September.We could not observe any juvenile birds during our study period.
It would be very interesting to know which species it exploits as foster parents to take care of the brood.

Square-tailed Bulbul Hypsipetes ganeesa
This species was observed only thrice in the Sagareshwar WS between 2005 and 2006.Its sighting was confined to the months of July to October.These birds might have strayed and settled in the sanctuary for some time.However, further investigation is required to know whether they are regular visitors or stray birds visiting Sagareshwar WS.

Vernal Hanging Parrot Loriculus vernalis
This is another interesting species observed in the Sagareshwar WS.It was only seen in 2006, from July to September.A small flock and individuals were observed across the months.They were seen foraging on pods of Cassia siamia, Indian Copperpod Peltphorum pterocarpum and Ficus spp.

Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus
Pallid Harriers were observed from 1997 to 2000.They were sighted from the second week of October to the first week of April.They were not seen in large flocks hence we assume that they could be roosting somewhere outside the Sagareshwar WS.Post 2000 this species, however, has not been observed in the sanctuary.This could be an outcome of their global decline during 1990-2000(BirdLife International 2015).

Discussion
Our observations indicate that the species composition changes with the season.The region has two peak seasons when influx of species is observed.The first influx is during the monsoon where some species probably arrive here from the Western Ghats.They breed in the Sagareshwar WS and spend significant time here after the monsoon.The second influx of the species is observed post monsoon and early winter.Most of the winter migrants arrive here by early to mid-October and live in Sagareshwar WS till the end of March or early April.
The phenomenon of monsoon migration and breeding migration of some species needs further investigation to understand patterns of migration, purpose of migration and the significance of the same for breeding success of the species.This landscape also provides an opportunity to study the host-parasite relationship as four species of cuckoos that reside here and some host species that specifically come here to breed.
The species assemblage in different seasons certainly has linkages with restoration of the ecosystem and least anthropogenic interference.Therefore, this sanctuary is very important in terms of understanding the restoration of the ecosystem and its impact on avifauna.Though there is no data available on the avifauna of the region prior to restoration; the assemblage of species is indicative of the restoration.Similar observations have been made by several workers with the assumptions that richness and abundances of bird species are often enhanced by restoration practices (Passell 2000; Twedt et al. 2006;Hamel 2003;Gaines et al. 2007;Aerts et al. 2008;Farwig et al. 2008).
This sanctuary gives an opportunity to further investigate the turnover of species in restored landscapes.It can serve as a model for studying indicator species and track changes in the restored habitat.Continuation of the current study will certainly be a major contribution to understand the response of avifauna to restored landscapes.

Conservation significance
Prior to the official notification of Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in 1985, this area went through several transitions.In 1970s, people of nearby villages and volunteers from cities took up the task of revitalizing this ravaged land.Several trees were planted, and as they grew birds and animals began to settle in Sagareshwar.Their number gradually increased within a few years.Sagareshwar is an example which shows that an ecologically degraded area, can be restored to its full potential if protected and managed properly.
There are several small pockets of wilderness across the length and breadth of the country, which are degraded for one reason or another.Suitable protection and management will certainly improve such zones as can be seen from the development of Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary.
A further study is required to understand species turnover and assemblage with changes in the habitats.This could be an ideal ecosystem to study the avifauna with respect to changes in the habitat over the period of time.