Population of House Sparrow Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Three Different Habitats of the Tarai Arc in Kumaun Region, Uttarakhand, India

Abstract

The present study was carried out to determine the population of House Sparrow in three different habitats of the tarai arc in Kumaun region, Uttarakhand for a period of one year. The monthly field visits were carried out from August 2018 to July 2019 at different locations of three habitats viz. agricultural area, urban area and forest area. The findings of the present survey revealed that the agricultural areas enjoy highest number of individuals and relative abundance (525, 56.21%) followed by urban area (316, 33.83%) and least in forest area (93, 9.95%), respectively. In terms of seasonal variations, the maximum individuals were observed during winter season (November to February, 63%) followed by summer season (March to June, 29%) and lowest in rainy season (July to October, 8%). The study also indicated a significant difference between the numbers of House Sparrow observed among the three different habitats. While comparing the number of House Sparrow during the investigation in three habitats it was observed that number of species were less in forest habitat whereas the highest numbers were recorded in and around agricultural areas which could be due to availability of reasonable nesting sites in traditional dwellings of farmers and availability of food.