Waders belonging to order Charadriiformes are commonly found
along shorelines and mudats that wade in order to forage for food
(such as insects or crustaceans) in the mud or sand. Bogs, marshes,
mudats, shorelines, ponds, and ooded areas are all popular habitats
for wading birds. The waders include storks, spoonbills, cranes,
herons, egrets and ibises. They have certain physical and behavioural
adaptations for living on or near water. Wading birds depend on water
as a source of food, shelter, and nesting sites. Wading birds wade into
shallow water to obtain food, instead of swimming and diving in water
in search of feed that is not found on land. If we study the morphology
of wading birds, they have lots of characteristics and adaptations that
are useful in a watery habitat. Long legs of the wading birds help them
to keep their feathers high and dry when wading into water in search of
food. A long neck and a long bill are adaptations that make it possible to
strike at prey while walking around on long legs. The benets of
wading bird′s long, thin, spread-out toes are three-fold: toes help them
to keep their balance and also help them to walk in mud without
sinking. While walking in water and mushy mud, thin toes are easier to
lift and set down. Spread-out toes also prevent them from sinking into
soft mud in the water and at the water's edge, and above all those toes
also disperse the weight of these big, tall birds, helping them keep their
balance over their long legs. Waders are ecologically dependent on
wetlands, as they provide good habitat to them for feeding, roosting,
breeding, nesting, pre-migratory requirements, migration and
protection from predators. So, wet lands plays an important part in the
life cycle of wading birds. Wetlands have got highest capacity and are
often extremely rich in bird and animal life. The present study aims at
the assessment of diversity and residential status of wading birds in
Yamuna basin near Hodal in Palwal District. It is located at
27°53′39″N and 77°22′09″E having an average elevation of 190
meters. Many ornithologists pay lots of their attention on eld study of
birds during the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century and till
today many more are involved in the study of avian diversity near
rivers. Avian fauna of Kalesar forests in immediate vicinity of River
Yamuna in Yamuna-nagar District has been analysed by Kalsi (1998).
Kulkarni et al.(2011) reported 151 species of birds from river
Godavari; Balapureet al. (2012) reported 63 avian species from river
Narmada. Other workers like Bahuguna(2008), Taketal.(2010), Gupta
& Kaushik (2011), Gupta et.al(2012), Anupma et al (2014), Ankita et
al (2019) have studied wetlands birds in various regions along the
banks of rivers.
A River Health Index: River Narmada Part-3
