Bird diversity and conservation at kallar kahar lake with special reference to water birds.

The study was conducted to document richness, density and relative abundance of avifauna, particularly the water birds of Kallar Kahar Lake, Chakwal. A total of 86 bird species belonging to 16 orders and 36 families were recorded. Among these, 61.62 % species were residents, 25.58% winter visitors, 8.13% summer breeding visitors and 4.65 % passage migrants. Water birds constituted 33.72% of the avifauna of lake. As many as 162±17.71 individuals of six species of ducks and 440±94.51 individuals of other 23 species of water birds were recorded with black coot (Fulica atra) and shoveler (Anas clypeata) as the most abundant species. The densities of water birds and ducks were estimated to be 3.29 and 2.56 birds per hectare, respectively. Presently around 31 % (42 ha) of the lake area has been invaded by Phragmites which provides breeding sites to night heron (Nycticorax nyctocorax) and little egret (Egretta garzetta) having 25 and 13 nests per hectare, respectively. The lake as a whole depicts an alarmingly deplorable ecological condition which is evident from the 39.32 % reduction in the area of lake within a short span of seven years. Unregulated tourism, land encroachment, eutrophication and siltation are major threats to the lake. The lake may lose its resilience in the face of a changing environment due to loss in the species richness and homogenization of species composition with that of bird species of surrounding towns and cultivated lands.