Survey on the abundance and biodiversity indices of overwintering birds in the Eastern wetland of Hormozgan province

This study was carried out to investigate the waterbird community parameters, such as abundance and diversity indices at Hormozgan province eastern wetlands in 2015. In order to perform this study, bird observations at 22 wetland sites were conducted and categorized using direct observation and totally count method by binocular and bird watching telescopes. Furthermore, species diversity, evenness and richness indices were calculated using the Shannon-Wiener’s H, Simpson’s D,Margalef's D, Pielou J′, Brillouin (E), McIntosh (E), and Species Abundance (N)indices. A total of 44582 individuals representing 68 overwintering species from 17 families were recorded. The Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) and Dunlin (Calidris alpine) were the most abundant species with 20.71 and 11.13% individual observation, respectively. The results of observations showed that the estuaries of Tyab and Meydani hosts the largest number of waterbirds overwintering with 15.26 and 13.66% totally observations, respectively. The highest species diversity were observed in the Mudflats of Bandar Abbas (3.07) and Surgalm (3.03), while Jask Bay (1.64) and Behel coast (1.3) had the lowest number of species diversity. Moreover, the highest species richness were obtained at Khour-e-Namaki (5.44) and Mudflats of Bandar Abbas (5.19). While, the lowest species richness were obtained at Nakhl-e-Ebrahimi (1.49) and Abd-Sedij coast (1.42). Surveys show that the use of both habitats including mudflats and mangrove forest, plays an important role for bird habitat selection. In terms of total species diversity of wetland areas in the east of Hormozgan province, Shannon-Wiener, Simpson and Margalef indices were calculated to be 3.12, 13.20 and 6.26, respectively. Moreover, for total species evenness, Pielou, Brillouin and McIntosh indices were calculated 0.74, 0.74 and 0.82, respectively. At the end, the study showed that due to the importance of eastern wetlands of Hormozgan province for wintering of waterbirds, wise development strategy seem to be inevitable.