Nesting ecology and breeding behavior of black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus) in wetland habitat of Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan
1Narayan Lal Choudhary and 1*Nadim Chishty
Wildlife, Limnology and Toxicology Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Government Meera Girls College (Mohanlal Sukhadia University) Udaipur-313001 (India) Email id: narayanlalchoudhary1995@gmail.com , nadimchishty@gmail.com 2*Corresponding author- Nadim Chishty
ABSTRACT
Black-winged stilt usually construct nest and breed in open areas around flooded and muddy habitat of seasonal and perennial water bodies. They construct nests on the ground with the help of mud, sand, grass, plant leaves and other vegetation matter. During breeding season, from egg laying to fledging, one adult generally remains close to nest and provide parental care and guard of eggs and nestlings. Both male and female contribute to construct nest and parental care of young once. Egg clutch sizes of black-winged stilt vary from one to four eggs. During study, we observed a total of 109 nests with 339 eggs of blackwinged stilts. Out of those, 52 nests have clutch sizes four, followed by 31 nests with clutch sizes three, 12 nests with clutch size two and 14 nests with clutch size only one. Black-winged stilt share nesting grounds, feeding and roosting habitats with other wading birds. During presence of predator, chicks began to make noise and parents gather around the nest and start making loud calls while standing straight. Parents also hide their chicks under their wings and sit down on the ground. Natural predators, human interference, cattle and feral dogs movement around wetlands limit hatchling and breeding success of black-winged stilts.