Avian community parameters of a freshwater wetland ecosystem in Peninsular Malaysia MUHAMMAD NAWAZ RAJPAR 1 and MOHAMED ZAKARIA 2* Avian community parameters, such as species relative abundance, species diversity and feeding guild of three major groups of birds - migratory birds, resident birds and resident- migratory birds, were determined using mist-netting method at Paya Indah Wetland Reserve, Peninsular, Malaysia from November 2007 to December 2008. A total of 65 species and 33 families comprising 13 migratory species, 41 resident species and 11 resident-migratory bird species were captured by mist-nets. Brown Shrike - Lanius cristatus and Richard’s Pipit - Anthus richardi (26.50% of each) were the most abundant migratory species, while Yellow- vented Bulbul-Pycnonotus goiavier (30.99%) was the most dominant resident species and Yellow Bittern - Ixobrychus sinensis (35.60%) was the most abundant resident-migratory species. The highest species diversity (Shannon’s N 1 = 12.92) and species richness (Margalef’s R 1 = 5.63) were obtained for resident birds and the lowest species diversity (N 1 = 6.06) and species richness (R 1 = 2.03) were obtained for resident-migratory birds. The highest species evenness for migratory birds was 0.75 McIntosh’s evenness index and the lowest species evenness for resident-migratory birds was 0.59. Insectivore (80.34%) was the most dominant guild for migratory birds followed by Frugivore/Insectivore (39.46%) for resident birds and Carnivore/Piscivore/Insectivore (53.28%) for resident-migratory birds. In contrast, Carnivore (0.41%) was the rarest guild of resident birds. The Frugivore/Insectivore, Granivore/ Insectivore, Granivore, Nectarivore/Insectivore and Carnivore/Insectivore guilds were absent in migratory birds and Granivore/Insectivore, Granivore, Nectarivore/Insectivore, Carnivore/ Insectivore and Carnivore were absent in resident and migratory birds. This study showed that Paya Indah Wetland Reserve is highly attractive habitat for migratory, resident and resident–migratory birds. Key words: migratory, resident, relative abundance, mist-netting, feeding guild, avian community, freshwater wetland, Paya Indah Wetland Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia ASIA LIFE SCIENCES 21(2): 1-19, 2012 The Asian Int ernat ional Journal of Life Sciences Received 29 March 2011; Accepted 30 November 2011. ©Rushing Water Publishers Ltd. 2012. Printed in the Philippines 1 Lecturer in Forestry, Forest Education Division, Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar, Pakistan e-mail - rajparnawaz@gmail.com Tel. No: 0092--334-9343405 Fax No: 0092-919216203 2 Associate Professor/Deputy Dean, Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia. *Corresponding author: e-mail - mzakaria@putra.upm.edu.my