Abstract:
Bird diversity contributes to the balance of an ecosystem. Land use and land
cover of an area are one of the determining factors highly impacted on bird
diversity. An attempt was made to analyze the diversity changes of bird
species from the human-dominated landscape towards the natural forest area
in the present study. Part of the Sri Pada Sanctuary belonging to the Sri
Palabaddala Grama Niladhari Division in Ratnapura District and 3 villages
named Andirikelle, Pawanella, and Mahawatta were selected as the study area.
The study area considered a dense forest, forest, tea, cinnamon, scrubland, and
home gardens. The observations were carried out during the period from
September to November 2019, using 20 samples. Observations are scheduled
From 5.00-8.00am in the morning and from 4.00-7.00pm in the evening.
Quadrant with a 50m radius was considered as the area of a sample. GPS
coordinate of each sample was recorded for mapping purposes. Observations
were repeated for three consecutive days for each sample. A total of 1081
individual bird species were enumerated about 49 species of birds. Among
them were 32 resident species, 15 endemic species, and two migrant species.
The most common avifaunal species in the area were Red-vented bulbul,
Yellow-billed babbler and Spotted dove. In terms of land uses, 24 birds species
from dense forests, 12 birds species from forest, 18 birds species from tea
plantation, 19 bird species from cinnamon cultivation, 15 birds species from
scrubland and 28 birds species from home gardens were observed.
Accordingly, the very distinctive species composition of bird species was
identified in home gardens. The reason behind the highest species richness is
the availability of food in home gardens.
