288
the year. Jodhpur is blessed with a wide variety of
flora and fauna. The natural vegetation composed
of trees are Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora oleoides,
S. persica, Acacia senegal, and Dactyloctenium
aegyptium, whereas among shrubs Capparis
decidua, Calligonum polygonoides, Ziziphus
nummularia, Euphorbia caducifolia, Calotropis
procera, etc. Some recently planted trees are
Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica, Ficus religiosa, F. bengalensis, Delonix regia, Pongamia
pinnata, and Dalbergia sisoo on roadsides,
gardens, resorts, and official campuses; in
addition to this, Prosopis juliflora has invaded
each possible place since it was introduced and
inside wetland vegeteation like Typha latifolia,
Vallisneria
spp.
Eichhornia
crassipes,
Phragmites karka, Hydrilla verticillata Chata
spp. and Green algae are found growing.
This part of western India is famous for its
forts, cultural heritages, and handicrafts, and
these are major tourist’s attraction of this city.
The famous fort Mehrangarh was founded in
1459 AD, since then up to five decades back,
most of the population of Jodhpur was restricted
inside the old city wall and Mahamandir area outside city wall; the rest of the present Jodhpur was
sparsely populated. Kaylana and Balsamand
Lake and Jaswant Sagar and Umed Sagar dam
are important water bodies of the district. Total
1,934 wetlands are mapped including 1,673 small
wetlands (<2.25 ha) with 17,032 ha area. The
river/streams with 8,284 ha. contributed 48.64 %
to the total wetland area. The salt pans with
4,471 ha (26.25 %) is the second major wetland
category, followed by tanks/ponds with 1,798 ha
area, i.e., 10.56 %. The district is dominated by
man-made wetlands. Open water spread of the
wetlands is significantly higher in post-monsoon
(1,381 ha) than during pre-monsoon (254 ha),
indicating the rainfall dependence of the wetlands in the state. The qualitative turbidity of
water is low in both the seasons (National
Wetland Atlas 2010).
Almost all villages of Jodhpur had their village pond or naadi which were locally conserved
and properly harvested; there was proper management of water due paucity of water and
rain dependence of pond. These were shelter to
several wetland birds. Migratory waterfowls use
to appear seasonally in these ponds. Migratory
birds like ducks, coots, and waders were common
visitor to these water bodies. Due to increase in
population of city and villages and with the
increase in need of water, the village ponds are
now neglected as villages have alternate source
of water supply through the government. As a
result of which, several water bodies have diminished and mismanaged as they are out of use.
On the other hand, fewer of them are still well
managed like Barli, Gudha, and Kherjarli ponds.
In Jodhpur City, Kaylana Lake has become the
only source of water supply to the city; it gets
regular water recharge from Indira Gandhi Canal,
and water level does not fluctuate much throughout the year. The regular supply of water have
increased plantation of trees and gardens. The
population of Jodhpur has increased about
27.73 % from 28.81 lac in year 2001 to 36.87 lac
in 2011 (Census of India 2011). Urbanization of
the city is progressing very fast, and several surrounding villages are now merged in the main
city. Plantation of trees like neem (Azadirachta
indica), gulmohar (Delonix regia), mango
(Mangifera indica), karanj (Pongamia pinnata),
sheesham (Dalbergia sisoo), and keekar
(Prosopis juliflora) has been undertaken. There is
an impact on diversity of wetland birds due to
changed profile of the district which is enumerated in the present communication.
Past Studies on Bird Community
in Jodhpur
The old records of studies on birds were carried
out way back by Adams (1899), Hume (1873,
1878) Barnes (1886, 1891), and Whistler (1938)
and the comprehensive study by Ali (1975).
Thereafter extensive surveys conducted by
Roberts (1991) in western Rajasthan and Pakistan
documented several endemic bird species and
there distribution. The erstwhile princely state
Jodhpur contributes about 11 % of total Thar
desert in India. The diversity of birds was very
H. Singh
the year. Jodhpur is blessed with a wide variety of
flora and fauna. The natural vegetation composed
of trees are Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora oleoides,
S. persica, Acacia senegal, and Dactyloctenium
aegyptium, whereas among shrubs Capparis
decidua, Calligonum polygonoides, Ziziphus
nummularia, Euphorbia caducifolia, Calotropis
procera, etc. Some recently planted trees are
Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica, Ficus religiosa, F. bengalensis, Delonix regia, Pongamia
pinnata, and Dalbergia sisoo on roadsides,
gardens, resorts, and official campuses; in
addition to this, Prosopis juliflora has invaded
each possible place since it was introduced and
inside wetland vegeteation like Typha latifolia,
Vallisneria
spp.
Eichhornia
crassipes,
Phragmites karka, Hydrilla verticillata Chata
spp. and Green algae are found growing.
This part of western India is famous for its
forts, cultural heritages, and handicrafts, and
these are major tourist’s attraction of this city.
The famous fort Mehrangarh was founded in
1459 AD, since then up to five decades back,
most of the population of Jodhpur was restricted
inside the old city wall and Mahamandir area outside city wall; the rest of the present Jodhpur was
sparsely populated. Kaylana and Balsamand
Lake and Jaswant Sagar and Umed Sagar dam
are important water bodies of the district. Total
1,934 wetlands are mapped including 1,673 small
wetlands (<2.25 ha) with 17,032 ha area. The
river/streams with 8,284 ha. contributed 48.64 %
to the total wetland area. The salt pans with
4,471 ha (26.25 %) is the second major wetland
category, followed by tanks/ponds with 1,798 ha
area, i.e., 10.56 %. The district is dominated by
man-made wetlands. Open water spread of the
wetlands is significantly higher in post-monsoon
(1,381 ha) than during pre-monsoon (254 ha),
indicating the rainfall dependence of the wetlands in the state. The qualitative turbidity of
water is low in both the seasons (National
Wetland Atlas 2010).
Almost all villages of Jodhpur had their village pond or naadi which were locally conserved
and properly harvested; there was proper management of water due paucity of water and
rain dependence of pond. These were shelter to
several wetland birds. Migratory waterfowls use
to appear seasonally in these ponds. Migratory
birds like ducks, coots, and waders were common
visitor to these water bodies. Due to increase in
population of city and villages and with the
increase in need of water, the village ponds are
now neglected as villages have alternate source
of water supply through the government. As a
result of which, several water bodies have diminished and mismanaged as they are out of use.
On the other hand, fewer of them are still well
managed like Barli, Gudha, and Kherjarli ponds.
In Jodhpur City, Kaylana Lake has become the
only source of water supply to the city; it gets
regular water recharge from Indira Gandhi Canal,
and water level does not fluctuate much throughout the year. The regular supply of water have
increased plantation of trees and gardens. The
population of Jodhpur has increased about
27.73 % from 28.81 lac in year 2001 to 36.87 lac
in 2011 (Census of India 2011). Urbanization of
the city is progressing very fast, and several surrounding villages are now merged in the main
city. Plantation of trees like neem (Azadirachta
indica), gulmohar (Delonix regia), mango
(Mangifera indica), karanj (Pongamia pinnata),
sheesham (Dalbergia sisoo), and keekar
(Prosopis juliflora) has been undertaken. There is
an impact on diversity of wetland birds due to
changed profile of the district which is enumerated in the present communication.
Past Studies on Bird Community
in Jodhpur
The old records of studies on birds were carried
out way back by Adams (1899), Hume (1873,
1878) Barnes (1886, 1891), and Whistler (1938)
and the comprehensive study by Ali (1975).
Thereafter extensive surveys conducted by
Roberts (1991) in western Rajasthan and Pakistan
documented several endemic bird species and
there distribution. The erstwhile princely state
Jodhpur contributes about 11 % of total Thar
desert in India. The diversity of birds was very
H. Singh