Das Biological Forum – An International Journal 15(6): 983-988(2023) 983 ISSN No. (Print): 0975-1130 ISSN No. (Online): 2249-3239 Avifaunal Diversity and Abundance in the Mahamaya Hill Dokmoka Karbi Anglong, Assam, India Das P. * Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology, Thong Nokbe College, Karbi Anglong (Assam), India. (Corresponding author: Das P.*) (Received: 06 April 2023; Revised: 14 May 2023; Accepted: 23 May 2023; Published: 15 June 2023) (Published by Research Trend) ABSTRACT: Birds are one of the best-known classes of living organisms; they are important bio indicators of an ecosystem. Assam, being a unit of two biogeographic realm, the Indo Malayan and the Indo-Chinese is immensely rich in avifaunal diversity with more than 800 species and holds 55 Important Bird Areas. This study was undertaken to determine the diversity and abundance of birds in Mahamaya hill, a small hill area in Dokmoka town of Karbi Anglong, Assam. Intensive study was conducted from post winter to early spring i.e. February to April 2023 by line transect method. A total of 51 species of birds belonging to 20 families and 4 orders were recorded. Family Pylloscopidae dominated the area comprising of 12 species, followed by Cisticolidae, CorvidaeAnd Dicruridaewith 4 species in each group. Among all the species recorded, Dicrurus macrocercus has the highest abundance (15.15%), followed by Passer montanus (Eurasian Tree Sparrow) and Acridotheres tristis (common myna) with 14.42% and 8.91% each. Family- wise relative abundance revealed that Dicruridae has the highest relative abundance (24.43%), followed by Passeridae (18.55%) and saturnidae (16.98%). The area sustains a rich and diverse bird population, so improved management of the entire landscape is recommended. Keywords: realm, bio indicators, zoogeographic, diversity, relative abundance and avifaunal. INTRODUCTION Birds are among the most well-studied classes of living organisms and play a vital role in maintaining the functioning of the ecosystems they inhabit. They serve as excellent bio indicators and are valuable models for studying various environmental issues. Consequently, there has been a growing awareness in recent times about the importance of birds, especially in the remote regions of India (Chaturvedi and Singh 2017), where the condition of the local landscape requires thorough investigation. Identifying the crucial determinants of bird communities is essential in this context. Noticeably the availability of checklist of birds in that structure for avian conservation areas is highly helpful to get the complete picture (Kattan and Franco 2004). They are cosmopolitan and uneven in their distributions. Their distribution, diversity and densities depend on various factors such as climate, altitude, vegetation, water availability and anthropogenic activities. Describing and explaining spatial patterns in species diversity are crucial steps in conserving global biodiversity (Xu et al., 2023) as the number of bird as the number of bird (Ali, 1979) depend on climatic changes accompanied by corresponding changes in vegetation. Despite birds being well-known organisms, there are still substantial gaps in our knowledge regarding their distributions, abundances and densities (Voon et al., 2014). Studies on bird diversity are important as it raises an awareness of the need for global conservation of the avian community (Sondhi, 2002) and to understand the wellbeing of an ecosystem as a whole and help to delineate the importance of a regional or local landscape for avian conservation. Despite Karbi Anglong being part of the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot (Choudhury, 2000) research on its avian community remains limited. While some studies focus on pheasants or specific bird groups in certain areas, comprehensive research is lacking (Rahmani et al., 2016). MATERIAL AND METHODS 1. Study site. Mahamaya is a small hill plateau at 26°20′17.63″ N latitude and 93°06′81.09 E longitude, Dokmoka Karbi Anglong, Assam. It is situated at the indo Myanmar biodiversity hotspot for which it also become essentially important to study this place. It rest at 222m above sea level. The Mahamaya hill is situated at a distance of 65 km from district headquarter. The hill is surrounded by paddy from three side and NH 29 in one side; interestingly it appears to be same from every side when seen from distant view. The Mahamaya hill is also an important archaeological site because of the presence of stone temple of circa of 11 th centaury AD Historical evidence show (Xu et al., 2023) that this area was included in the kingdom of the Kachari king Krishna Chandra (1790-1813 AD). Above the hill there is a big pond present along with the historical temple. The pond harbours different types of bird also plan an important role in the ecosystem. Biological Forum – An International Journal 15(6): 983-988(2023)