Timed species count birds' data of the Kenyan Coastal Forests, 1992 - 1994
Latest version published by National Museums of Kenya on May 8, 2023
The biological importance and uniqueness of East African coastal forests is widely recognized; they form an Endemic Bird Area. Important remnants of this fragmented habitat occur on the southern Kenyan coast, but their avifauna has been little studied before 1992. In January 1992 to September 1994, the avifauna of 20 South Coast Forest fragments were systematically assessed using mist-netting, timed species counts and direct observations. Sixty forest-dependent bird species were recorded, amongst them three that are globally threatened (Sokoke Pipit Anthus sokokensis, Spotted Ground-thrush Geokichla guttata, East Coast Akalat Sheppardia gunningi) three that are near-threatened (Southern Banded Snake Eagle Circaetus fasciolatus, Fischer’s Turaco Tauraco fischeri, Plain-backed Sunbird Anthrepres reichenowi) and four that are ‘restricted-range’ (Fischer’s Turaco, Sokoke Pipit, Mombasa Woodpecker Campethera mombassica, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes neglectus). This dataset gives a baseline information on the birds recorded using the timed species count method in 20 forests fragment including: Timbwa, Waa, Kinondo, Diani, Teleza, Mtswakara, Gandini, Muhaka, Mrima,Buda, Gongoni, Marenje, Maluganji ,Shimba Hills, Arabuko Sokoke, Lunguma, Phungi wetland,Ukunda, Chale and Gonja. The dataset contains 2055 entries. The data were formatted according to the Darwin Core Standards by A Rocha Kenya before publishing through the IPT at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi.
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 73 records. 1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
- Event (core)
- Occurrence
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Downloads
Download the latest version of this resource data as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) or the resource metadata as EML or RTF:
| Data as a DwC-A file | download 73 records in English (39 KB) - Update frequency: unknown |
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| Metadata as an EML file | download in English (32 KB) |
| Metadata as an RTF file | download in English (17 KB) |
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Bennun L, Waiyaki E, Ochieng J, Njambi M, Mwangi E, Njoroge P (2023): Timed species count birds' data of the Kenyan Coastal Forests, 1992 - 1994. v1.6. National Museums of Kenya. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/resource?r=tsc_birds&v=1.6
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is National Museums of Kenya. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 8b2ab855-89c5-4bc7-8bd5-f6d243787532. National Museums of Kenya publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Kenya.
Keywords
Birds; Timed species count; Kenyan coastal forests; Kwale; Kilifi; Forest Fragments
Contacts
Who created the resource:
Who can answer questions about the resource:
Who filled in the metadata:
Who else was associated with the resource:
Geographic Coverage
The timed species count was carried out in 20 forest fragments falling under two counties Kilifi and Kwale in the southern Kenyan coast. These forest fragments included: Timbwa, Waa, Kinondo, Diani, Teleza, Mtswakara, Gandini, Muhaka, Mrima,Buda, Gongoni, Marenje, Maluganji ,Shimba Hills,Arabuko Sokoke,Lunguma, Phungi wetland,Ukunda, Chale and Gonja.
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [-90, -180], North East [90, 180] |
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Taxonomic Coverage
Birds observed via timed species count method within the 20 locations in Coastal Forest were identified to the species level.
| Class | Aves |
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| Order | Accipitriformes, Apodiformes, Bucerotiformes, Caprimulgiformes, Columbiformes, Coraciiformes, Cuculiformes, Galliformes, Musophagiformes, Passeriformes, Piciformes, Psittaciformes, Strigiformes, Trogoniformes |
| Family | Sturnidae, Estrildidae, Cisticolidae, Malaconotidae, Capitonidae, Trogonidae, Bucerotidae, Pycnonotidae, Alcedinidae, Turdidae, Nectariniidae, Platysteiridae, Cuculidae, Musophagidae, Picidae, Muscicapidae, Columbidae, Accipitridae, Monarchidae, Meropidae, Phoeniculidae, Nicatoridae, Oriolidae, Phasianidae, Psittacidae, Scotocercidae, Stenostiridae, Rhamphastidae, Ploceidae, Numididae, Coraciidae, Ciconiidae, Ardeidae, Jacanidae, Rallidae, Anatidae, Campephagidae, Indicatoridae, Upupidae, Motacillidae, Lybiidae, Dicruridae, Laniidae, Calyptomenidae, Apodidae, Strigidae, Caprimulgidae |
| Subfamily | Lybiinae |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 1992-01-11 / 1994-09-22 |
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Project Data
This project seeks to protect the important forests of each landscape notably Atewa Forest (Ghana), the Forests of the Kwande and Oban-Liku (Nigeria), West Bugwe (Uganda) and the coastal forests and kayas of Kenya which are all, at least in part, of international conservation importance. Mobilising, sharing, using biodiversity data lies at the heart of A Rocha’s interventions informing, for example, our current campaign to ‘Save the Atewa Forest’ in Ghana, our strategy to protect Kenya’s coastal forests and forest restoration ambitions in Uganda. Yet there is still a wealth of data “locked-up” in collections and reports which, if digitised and published on GBIF, could be used in decisions both today and in the future. As a regional initiative, this project realises a rare chance to bring together regional partners to build capacity in digitising critical biodiversity data and put it to good use to conserve threatened Forest biodiversity.
| Title | Raising the profile of data for the conservation of four forested African landscapes |
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| Identifier | BID-AF2020-140-REG |
| Funding | Collection of this dataset was funded by The Overseas Development Administration (UK) Publication of this dataset was funded by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation https://www.gbif.org/project/BID-AF2020-140-REG/raising-the-profile-of-data-for-the-conservation-of-four-forested-african-landscapes |
| Study Area Description | The Kenyan coastal mainland generally consists of plains near the ocean which give way to plateaux and then to ranges further inland (Hawthorne 1993). Forests have developed on plains, plateaux and intrusions. Geologically, pale lagoonal sands and coral dominate the lower plains, merging into red Sandstones before giving way to shales and sandstones on the plateau (Miyata & Saka 1979). The ranges are Duruma sandstone dominated with specks of alkaline igneous intrusions (Hawthorne 1993). Rainfall in areas supporting forest varies in monthly distribution and total amount from around 1 000-1 500 mm annually (Glover et al. 1954). 20 forest fragments scattered along the South Coast between Mombasa town and the Tanzanian border were studied. Coastal forests are diverse in structure and floral composition. For convenience, the forests were classified into three broad categories, based on overall appearance: high, low and intermediate. High forests contained a substantial proportion of tall trees, while low forests were often scrubby, with large trees rare and scattered. These categories roughly correspond with a similar ranking of moisture availability. The 20 forests fragments included:Teleza,Muhaka,Mrima,Buda,Gongoni, Arabuko Sokoke and Shimba Hills classified as tall,Timbwa,Kinondo,Diani ,lunguma,Chale, Ukunda and Marenje classified as intermediate, Waa,Mtswakara,Gandini, Chale, Phungi wetland forest and Maluganji classified as low. |
| Design Description | The TSCs procedure followed Bunnun&Waiyaki (1993). Every time a new bird species was detected during count, the time was recorded, together with an indication of whether the detection was by sight or sound, whether the bird was within 25M of observer and if so, whether it was above 3 m from ground. |
The personnel involved in the project:
Sampling Methods
A combination of modified Timed Species Counts (TSCs) (Pomeroy 1992), equivalent to ‘timed transects’ (Bennun & Waiyaki 1993) and ad hoc observations were used to survey the aerial, canopy and mid-canopy species, while mist-netting was used for the shy and skulking undergrowth species. This dataset contains birds recorded using the Time species count method.
| Study Extent | The survey was undertaken in 20 South Coastal Forest fragments between Mombasa town and Tanzanian border. These fragments included: Timbwa, Waa, Kinondo, Diani, Teleza, Mtswakara, Gandini, Muhaka, Mrima,Buda, Gongoni, Marenje, Maluganji ,Shimba Hills, Arabuko Sokoke, Lunguma, Phungi wetland, Ukunda, Chale and Gonja. |
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| Quality Control | Species identification was done on site by a team of bird experts from the Ornithology Section, National Museums of Kenya. |
Method step description:
- Eight days were spent in each fragment during the survey. A combination of modified Timed Species Counts (TSCs) (Pomeroy 1992), equivalent to ‘timed transects’ (Bennun & Waiyaki 1993) and ad hoc observations were used to survey the aerial, canopy and mid-canopy species, while mist-netting was used for the shy and skulking undergrowth species. During timed transects, an observer walked steadily for a set period of time (40 minutes) along a trail, recording each time a bird was seen or heard above a set height (3 m) and within a set distance (20 m) from his position. All timed transects (24 per site) were conducted between 06h00 and 10h00 in the morning, a time when birds are most active.
Bibliographic Citations
- Bennun, L.A. & Waiyaki, E.M. 1993. Using timed species-counts to compare avifaunas in the Mau Forests, south-west Kenya. Proc. Pan-Afr. Om. Congr. 8: 366.
- Glover, J., Robinson, P. & Henderson, J.P. 1954. Provisional maps of the reliability of annual rainfall in East Africa. Quarterly Review of the Meterological Society 80: 607.
- Hawthorne, W.D. 1993. East African coastal forest botany. In: Lovett J.C., & Wasser, S.K. (eds.). Biogeography & ecology of the rainforests of Eastern Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 57-102. ICBP 1992. Putting biodiversity on the map: Priority Areas for Global Conservation. Cambridge: ICBP.
- Miyata, T. & Saka, Y. 1979. Deformed cross-lamination in the Karoo system, near Mombasa, Kenya. 4" Preliminary report, African Studies, Nagoya University, 63-7 1.
- Pomeroy, D. 1992. Counting Birds. AWF Technical Handbook no. 6. Nairobi: African Wildlife Foundation
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 8b2ab855-89c5-4bc7-8bd5-f6d243787532 |
|---|---|
| http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/resource?r=tsc_birds |