Survey of the birds associated with Valukkai aru in the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Valukkai Aru is one of the few seasonal rivers in Jaffna Peninsula. This drains water from Pinakai Kulam in the North near Alaveddy to Jaffna Lagoon near Araaly through Araaly Barrage. This region harborsa number of birds species including migrants. This is the first documentation of birds from a riverine ecosystem from Jaffna Peninsula. The survey was carried out to study species richness and abundance, and to estimate birds density. As the binoculars were prohibited at the time of the survey in March 2006 a theodolite was used to identify the birds those are far away. The perpendicular distance to the detected bird was measured using a range finder. The software Distance was used to estimate birds density along the transact. A total of 42 bird species was identified with a bird density of 4.6 birds/100 m2.