Diversity and Local Abundance Status of Avifauna of Trikuta Hills, J&K, India

Rahul Kait

Abstract

Trikuta hills, popularly known as Vaishno Devi hills, constitute a part of outermost hills of Jammu Shivaliks. Trikuta hills support a rich avian diversity. A total of 90 species of birds belonging to 39 families and 11 orders have been recorded from Trikuta hills. Trikuta hills are under pressure from diverse anthropogenic activities. An effort to assign the local abundance status to avian species has been made and it was found that more than 50% of the species are occasional and rare. This paper also provides an overview of Threats to wildlife in the study area.