Population status and distribution of Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei) in Meru national park and Ngaya Forest Reserve areas of Meru county, Kenya

  • Authors

    • Fredrick Onyancha Egerton University
    • George Eshiamwata Egerton University
    • Henry Karanja Egerton University
    • Peter Njoroge Kenya National Museums
    2016-11-20
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbr.v4i2.6842
  • Hinde’s Babbler, Ngaya, Protection Gradient, Population Status, Threatened Species.

  • Hinde’s Babbler which is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List with isolated populations confined to some parts of central and eastern Kenya. A survey was conducted between June and December, 2015 to assess and compare population status of Hinde’s Babbler across a gradient of levels of protection. Data was collected at intervals of 100m along predetermined cumulative 19 km transects where playback of Hinde’s Babbler was used to elicit response of individual groups. At each point of detection, total number of adults, offsprings and vegetation phenology was recorded. The entire habitat population was 540 individuals (dry season; Ngaya FR-255, Meru NP-137 and Agricultural landscape- 148), 411 individuals (wet season; Ngaya FR-168, Meru NP-185 and Agricultural landscape- 58) though there was no significant statistical difference between the seasonal datasets. There was significance difference between adults and juveniles in both seasons (Mann Whitney, Dry P= 0.0001 and wet season, P = 0.0002). These results imply that the three sites are vital for the survival, conservation and management of this threatened species and hence continuous monitoring of protected and unprotected sites is necessary for conservation of threatened avian species like Hinde’s Babbler.

  • References

    1. [1] Barnes, M., Szabo, J.K., Morris, W.K. & Possingham, H. (2014). Evaluating protected area effectiveness using bird lists in the Australian Wet Tropics. Diversity and Distributions.

      [2] Bennun, L. & Njoroge, P. (1999). Important Bird Areas in Kenya. Nature Kenya, Nairobi. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.87589.

      [3] Bennun, L., Dranzoa, C. & Pomeroy, D. (1996). The Forest Birds of Kenya and Uganda. Journal of East African Natural History, 85(1), 23-48. https://doi.org/10.2982/0012-8317(1996)85[23:TFBOKA]2.0.CO;2.

      [4] BirdLife International (2014a). Effective Protected Area networks can help promote species recovery. Presented as part of the BirdLife State of the world's birds website. Available from: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/casestudy/607. Checked: 26/02/2015.

      [5] BirdLife International (2014b). One in eight of all bird species is threatened with global extinction. Presented as part of the BirdLife State of the world's birds website. Available from: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sowb/casestudy/106. Checked: 26/02/2015.

      [6] Collar, N., Robson, C. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2016). Hinde's Pied Babbler (Turdoides hindei). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/59569 on 22 April 2016

      [7] Didham, K., Tylianakis, M., Gemmell, J., Rand A. & Ewers, M. (2007). Interactive effects of habitat modification and species invasion on native species decline. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 22(9), 489-496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2007.07.001.

      [8] Greve, M., Chow, L., Rensbur, J., Dallimer, M. & Gaston J. (2014). The ecological effectiveness of protected areas: a case study for South African birds. Animal Conservation, 14(3), 295-305. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2010.00429.x.

      [9] Kamiti, A. (2003). A survey of Hinde’s Babbler: 2000-01. Kenya Birds 10(1&2): 16-17.

      [10] Mulwa, R.K., Neuschulz, E.L., Böhningâ€Gaese, K. & Schleuning, M. (2013). Seasonal fluctuations of resource abundance and avian feeding guilds across forest–farmland boundaries in tropical Africa. Oikos, 122(4), 524-532. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.20640.x.

      [11] Njoroge, P. & Bennun, L. (2000). Status and conservation of Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei), a threatened species in an agricultural landscape. Ostrich, 71(1-2), 69-72. https://doi.org/10.1080/00306525.2000.9639871.

      [12] Njoroge, P., Bennun, L. & Lens, L. (1998). Habitat use by the globally Endangered Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei) and its sympatric relative, the Northern Pied Babbler (T. hypoleucus). Bird Conservation International (8), 59-65. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270900003634.

      [13] Njoroge, P. & Mutinda, D. (1996). Notes on nesting of Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei) and Northern Pied Babbler (T. hypoleucus) in ‘Central Kenya’. Ostrich 67: 170-172.

      [14] Shaw, P., Njoroge, P., Otieno, V. & Mlamba, E. (2014). The range, abundance and habitat of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei: fine-scale changes in abundance during 2000–2011 reflect temporal variation in scrub cover. Bird Conservation International, 24(04), 453-465. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270913000579.

      [15] Shaw, P., Njoroge, P., Otieno, V. & Mlamba, E. (2013). detecting change in the status and habitat of Hinde’s Babbler Turdoides hindei: 2000 to 2011. Ibis, 155, 428–429. https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12047.

      [16] Shaw, P., Musina, J. & Gichuki, P. (2003). Estimating change in the geographical Range and population size of Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei). Bird Conservation International, 13, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270903003010.

      [17] Shaw, P. & Musina, J. (2003). Correlates of abundance and breeding success in the globally threatened Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei) and its congener, Northern Pied Babbler (T. hypoleucus). Biological Conservation 114: 281-288. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00050-8.

      [18] Shaw, P., Musina, J. & Gichuki, P. (2001). Surveys of Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei) and Northern Pied Babbler (T. hypoleucus) in four Important Bird Areas. Research Reports of the Centre for Biodiversity, National Museums of Kenya.

      [19] Torello-Raventos, M., Feldpausch, T.R., Veenendaal, E., Schrodt, F., Saiz, G., Domingues, T.F. & Hur Marimon Junior, B. (2013). On the delineation of tropical vegetation types with an emphasis on forest/savanna transitions. Plant Ecology & Diversity, 6(1), 101-137. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2012.762812.

      [20] Zimmerman, D. A., Turner D.A., Pearson, D.J. & Ian, W. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Onyancha, F., Eshiamwata, G., Karanja, H., & Njoroge, P. (2016). Population status and distribution of Hinde’s Babbler (Turdoides hindei) in Meru national park and Ngaya Forest Reserve areas of Meru county, Kenya. International Journal of Biological Research, 4(2), 295-298. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijbr.v4i2.6842