Vanishing Habitats of Aquatic Birds in the City of Lakes, Udaipur : a Case Study

Situated amidst the Aravallis and adorned by the necklace of lakes is located the historical city of Udaipur, which is also known as the Venice of the east. The city embraces many big and small lakes and water bodies within its heart. A large number of aquatic birds inhabit these water bodies. Their comparatively large size and beautiful colorations attract the attention of general public and bird watchers. A large number of bird species were once resident to this place while the winter and dummer migrants also rested here. Unfortunately, now the number of species residing or visiting the lakes is declining rapidly. One of the reasons could be that the wetland ecosystems are the most vulnerable and threatened habitats these days because man is encroaching the same upon. These wetlands support a vast biotic diversity. The study of feeding habits and the habitat preference are important tools for management of fauna. The present study was conducted in order to observe the diversity of aquatic birds in and around the famous lake Pichhola. Only 36 species of birds belonging to 16 families were observed during the course of study. The littoral zone of shallow freshwater marshes surrounding the lake was known to support as many as 66 species of bird's upto 1989. Due to the destruction of this habitat mostly by anthropogenic activity, there has been a continuous decline of avian diversity and is therefore a great cause of concern. An attempt has been made in the present study to analyze the reasons for destruction of habitat of aquatic birds and suggestions have been made for their management and conservation.