Distribution of Green Munia (Amandava formosa Latham 1790) in Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India

Green munia (Amandava formosa) mainly prefers forest and grassland habitats with Lantana-dominated areas and other bushy areas, including wild grasses, during the foraging, feeding, resting, roosting, and nesting time. For their foraging and feeding needs, green munias prefer agricultural lands, and they occasionally site themselves near cattle farm areas. Males, females, and juveniles of green munias also forage and feed together. During the study, we observed green munia at 115 locations in Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary and their distribution was found to range between 901 m and 1400 m elevation in the study area. Out of those flocks, maximum number of flocks was observed at 1101-1200 m altitudinal ranges (57) followed by 1301-1400 m (41), 1201-1300 m (9), 901-1000 m (6), and 2 flocks at 1001-1100 m. Green munias preferred mid-elevation ranges and flock sizes ranged from two to more than 50 individuals. We prominently sighted green munias at Oriya and Salgaon villages, behind the Aarsh Gurukul Mahavidhalya, near the Rameshwaram temple, the Achalgarh areas, the surrounding areas of Lower Kodra dam and behind the Abu check dam and tiger path nature trail of Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary. . KEYWORDS :Distribution, Feeding, Grassland, Green munia, Habitat, Mount Abu