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Abstract
The term "wetland" refers to areas of land that are transitional between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems and in which the water table is typically at or near the surface or the area is submerged in shallow water (Mitsch and Gosselink, 1986). Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems on earth and are essential for controlling erosion, flooding, recharging aquifers, and absorbing nutrients. A large variety of animals, including birds, mammals, fish, frogs, insects, and plants, also calls wetlands home (Buckton, 2007). Wetlands maintain the diversity of flora and animals as a result. India has 58.2 million hectares of wetland space (Prasad et al., 2002). Siwan's wetlands span an area of 1184 hectares. 310 of the 1340 bird species that have been identified in India (Ali and Ripley, 1987; Manakandan and Pittie, 2001) are known to be wetlands-dependent (Kumar et al., 2005). Wetlands in India and worldwide are under intense anthropogenic pressures, which can have a significant impact on the composition of the bird community (Prasad et al., 2002). (Kler, 2002; Verma et al., 2004; Reginald et al., 2007). In the present study, aquatic birds have been observed which are visiting open water, mudflats and wetlands having submerged, floating and emergent vegetation. Birds were recorded by direct sightings. The data were recorded during the surveys in different seasons.