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Saadani National Park (SANAPA), located along the eastern coastline of Tanzania, is the closest wildlife sanctuary from the business capital, Dar es Salaam. Although the populations of game animals do not attract many tourists at the moment, it has a potential of becoming a bird watching paradise. Nonetheless, very little ornithological observations have been documented. This study, based mainly on the species encounter rates, provides indices for ‘common’ and ‘rare’ bird species in the southern part of SANAPA. Between June and July (touristic peak season for eastern Africa parks) 2013, timed species counts (TSCs), mist netting, total counts and opportunistic observations were used to study the avian diversity in woodland-bushed grassland, riverine forests, and mangrove-saltpans habitat. In total, 97 species were recorded from 26 TSCs, among these 76 were sighted in woodland-bushed grassland and 47 from mangrove-saltpans habitat. About 50% of all recorded birds were common (with >1.0 mean score, MS) at mangrove-saltpans while 4 species were very rare (0.8<, MS) at this site. Moreover, in the woodland-bushed grassland, 19 species were common and three were recorded only once. Twenty two species were added from opportunistic observations and mistnetting. A total count at salt works on 3rd and 18th July estimated an average of 400 greater and 500 lesser flamingos. Black-winged stilts were also abundant (350 birds) at the saltpans. Observations in this study amounts to over 30% of total bird species within SANAPA. The study provides information on site-specific species commonness (likelihood of encounter) which is crucial for avi-tourism promotion and park management. |
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