Spatio-temporal assemblages of commensal bird species in urban landscapes of Ludhiana city

Commensal bird species i.e. Rock Pigeon, Common Myna and House Crow were studied in relation to their spatial and temporal assemblages at four locations i.e. location 1 (Rajguru Nagar), location 2 (Agar Nagar), location 3 (Phase-3, Dugri) and location 4 (Punjab Agricultural University) comprising of 12-point sites at each location in urban landscape of Ludhiana city, Punjab. Structural features consisted of maximum build area at location 2 followed by location 1, 3 and 4 whereas vegetation area was highest at location 4 followed by location 3, 1 and 2. Rock Pigeon was most spatially distributed species at all locations followed by Common Myna and House Crow at location 1 and 3; House Crow and Common Myna at location 2 and 4. Rock Pigeon was maximum at point 8 (location 1) due to presence of well-planned housing structure and wide roads, Common Myna was maximum at point 32 (location 3) and House Crow was maximum at point 33 (location3) due to presence of vegetation and modernized housing structures. Temporal variation in three urban commensal bird species was also recorded across four locations which revealed that Rock Pigeon, House Crow and Common Myna showed distinct monthly fluctuations in abundance, with peaks and declines varying by location site. The spatial and temporal distribution of Rock Pigeon, Common Myna and House Crow in Ludhiana observed due to variation in built-up and vegetation areas that collectively shape commensal bird assemblages in urban environments.