Timed species count birds' data of the Kenyan Coastal Forests, 1992 - 1994

Leon Bennun1, Edward Waiyaki2, Judith Ochieng3, Maryanne Njambi4, Esther Mwangi4, Peter Njoroge4, Judith Ochieng5, Maryanne Njambi6, Esther Mwangi7, Lawrence Monda8

1 The Biodiversity Consultancy Ltd, Cambridge, , United Kingdom; 2 Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Silos Road, English Point, Mkomani, P. O. Box 81651 - 080100, Mombasa, Kenya; 3 A Rocha Kenya, P.O.Box 80202, Watamu, Kenya; 4 National Museums of Kenya, Museum Hill Road, 40658 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya; 5 A Rocha Kenya, P. O. Box 80202, Watamu, Kenya; 6 National Museums of Kenya, Museum Hill Road, P. O. Box 40658 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya; 7 ; 8 National Museums of Kenya, 40658, 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

Corresponding author(s): Leon Bennun (leon@thebiodiversityconsultancy.com)Edward Waiyaki (ewaiyaki@kmfri.go.ke)Judith Ochieng (judith.ochieng@arocha.org)Maryanne Njambi (njambiwaceke@gmail.com)Esther Mwangi (ewmwangi@museums.or.ke)Peter Njoroge (pnjoroge@museums.or.ke), Judith Ochieng (judith.ochieng@arocha.org), Maryanne Njambi (njambiwaceke@gmail.com)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

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

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Birds, Timed species count, Kenyan coastal forests, Kwale, Kilifi, Forest Fragments

Project details

Project title: Raising the profile of data for the conservation of four forested African landscapes
Personnel: Colin Jackson, Judith Ochieng
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 descriptions/descriptor: 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.

Data published through GBIF: http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/resource?r=tsc_birds

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: Birds observed via timed species count method within the 20 locations in Coastal Forest were identified to the species level.
Taxonomic ranks
Class: Aves
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

Spatial coverage

General spatial 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.
Coordinates: 90°0'0''S and 90°0'0''N Latitude; 180°0'0''W and 180°0'0''E Longitude 

Temporal coverage: January 11, 1992 - September 22, 1994

Methods

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.
Study extent description: 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.
Sampling description: 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.
Quality control description: Species identification was done on site by a team of bird experts from the Ornithology Section, National Museums of Kenya.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive Timed species count birds' data of the Kenyan Coastal Forests, 1992 - 1994
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/archive.do?r=tsc_birds
Publication date of data: 2023-05-08
Language: English
Licences of use: Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2022-11-25
Hierarchy level: Dataset

References
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