Abstract

• This study is to assess the diversity of birds in Thilawa Special Economic Zone, outskart of Yangon, Myanmar.The bird species diversity was investigated in theproject area, Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to assess the environmental impact of the project. The point count method was used and the data were monthly collected during June, 2015 to May 2016. The project area is 2400 hectares covering mostly paddy field with some human inhabitations. A total of 91 bird species representing 55 genera, 40 families and 8 orders were recorded from the Thilawa SEZ. Among them, 32 species from paddy field habitats, 58 species from shrubs and bushes, 32 species from wetland habitat and 55 species from scattered trees habitats wer observed. They represented 61 species of terrestrial birds (51 species of resident birds and 10 species of migratory birds), and 30 species of water birds (20 species of resident birds and 10 species of migratory birds) could be categorized. 73 species (1439 individuals of birds) in cool season, 36 species (644 individuals of birds) in wet season and 50 species (733 individuals of birds) in dry season were assessed. According to abundance category, two species of abundance, two species of frequent species, nine species of uncommon and 78 rare species were examined. The birds were moderately diverse according to Shannon Index value (H”= 8.566) with the evenness value (-8.577). According to IUCN Redlist category, 90 species are under least concern species and only one species Ploceus phillipinus was least concern species. Hence, the bird fauna in the project area is still diverse.