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Avian diversity has often been studied in agricultural habitats, but ornithological aspect of cattle sheds has never been studied. This exploratory study was conducted with the objective of studying the potential of cattle sheds for sustaining avian abundance and diversity in rice dominated agricultural areas. The study was done in Rice Field Ecosystem (System I) and Cattle Shed Ecosystem (System II) during 2019 and 2020 monsoon crop season from selected villages, namely, Dangon, Pakhowal and Sarabha (district Ludhiana), Punjab. It was recorded that 26 avian species (mainly of grassland habitat) were present in cattle sheds from a total 34 avian species (wetland, grassland and open countryside inhabiting species) observed in rice fields, which reflected that cattle sheds support a wide proportion of avian fauna and complement rice fields in supporting and preserving avian abundance and diversity. There is immense need to explore and accordingly lay emphasis on boosting dairy as allied sector so that cattle sheds can be exploited in preservation of diverse avian populations and thereby reinforcing approach of sustainable agriculture. Keywords: Avian diversity, Avian feeding guilds, Cattle Shed, Grassland birds, Rice crop

Rapid urbanization accompanied by land use changes is affecting biodiversity worldwide specifically avian diversity. In the present study, the interactions of avian diversity with vegetation area were evaluated using geospatial technologies at different locations of Ludhiana city from April 2019 to March 2020. Integration of observations was done to analyze the avian diversity in relation to habitat components. Bird surveys conducted have recorded 46 bird species. There were 44 tree and 14 shrub species recorded, with vegetation and buildup area being the key determinants of diversity. Urban locations with balanced buildup area and vegetation were observed to support bird species diversity.

Avian diversity is considered an environmental indicator for measuring ecosystem quality. The availability of food and its diverse types influence bird distribution and their community structure in agricultural landscapes. The current study investigated the role of T-perches as bird attractants in maize at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. A total of 39 species were observed belonging to 12 orders and 24 families. Insectivorous birds were observed as the most dominant feeding guild constituting 47.12%. Black drongo, jungle babbler, common myna, house crow, green bee-eater, and red-vented bulbul were noted utilizing t-perches for foraging purposes. The key factor driving the increase in insectivorous bird species seemed to be the additional perching sites available by installing T-perches.

The objective of the study was to assess the heavy metal contamination in excreta of the Baya Weaver Bird (Ploceus philippinus). Samples were collected from nesting colony sites present in three districts viz. Ludhiana (location I), Ropar (location II) and Ferozepur (location III) falling in Central plain zone, Undulating plain zone and Western plain zone of Punjab respectively. In dry excreta samples fifteen elements were detected through ICAP-AES; As, Pb, Cd, Cr were toxic heavy metals and B, Fe, Cu, Ni, Zn, Mn, Mg, Ca, P, S, Na were essential elements. Toxic heavy metals viz. As (1.88-2.10 ppm), Pb (2.70- 5.25 ppm) and Cr (13.30-23.78 ppm) were found above normal range in excreta collected from studied locations. Statistical analysis showed significant difference among heavy metals and locations which signifies the bioaccumulation of different metals at different locations in excreta of Baya Weaver Bird due to different type of contaminations at studied locations.

A study was carried out to assess the bird composition and diversity in relation to mixed fruit trees in transect I (Fruit Research Farm, Punjab Agricultural University campus, Ludhiana) and transect II (orchard in village Baranhara, Ludhiana) from August 2015 to February 2016. In transect I, 45 bird species were observed belonging to 12 orders and 37 genera. Ciconiiformes order was dominating with 40.31% of relative abundance in transect I and it comprised of carnivorous species, which reflected different prey sizes and its availability. In transect II, 30 bird species were observed belonging to six orders and 29 genera. Out of these, Passeriformes order with 47.20% relative abundance was the most dominating because of the unmanaged understory vegetation and weeds. Twenty two species were common in both the transects. Mixed fruit trees orchard seemed to encourage more number of birds than the two fruit crops orchard. It was inferred that the fruit tree diversity supported more avian richness and is of paramount importance for bird conservation efforts in agricultural landscape.

The breeding biology of Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis was studied during the breeding season of 2013 in two villages viz; Baranhara and Ladian Khurd falling in the district Ludhiana. There were located four heronries having a total of 47 nests at Baranhara and one heronry having 22 nests at Ladian Khurd. Breeding season of Cattle Egret was observed to extend from April to July First egg was laid during last week of May. The clutch size of Cattle Egret varied from 3 to 4. The egg laying activity peaked around end of the May to the end of June. Breeding pairs left the active nests after completing the breeding activities at the July end. The nests were built on Dhek tree (Melia azedarach) and Pilkan tree (Ficus lacor) up to height of 20 feet in Baranhara and Ladian Khurd respectively. The heronries were four times higher in number at Baranhara as compared to Ladian Khurd, which seemed to be linked to the presence of flowing water body at the former village. Zoology

Seven wooden nest boxes for birds each of 20x22x25cm dimensions with an opening of 5.6cm diameter were installed on 30 October 2001 on different trees in Punjab Agricultural University Campus, Ludhiana (30056'N & 70052'E). The study aimed to understand the acceptance and adoption of wooden nest boxes by birds. Only one of the nest box installed on the Indian Coral tree Erythrina indica was occupied by Common Myna Acridotheres tristis and Spotted Owlet Athene brama at different durations over a period of two years. The nest box was emptied out first on 25 May 2002 and again on 31 March 2003 to examine and weigh the nesting materials gathered by Common Myna and Spotted Owlet after their respective periods of nest box occupation.