Baker & Anderson 2004
A Preliminary Survey of Mahale Mountains National Park. Report to FZS and TANAPA.
The avifauna of Mahale Mountains National Park in Western Tanzania has received surprisingly little systematic attention over the years. In 1957, Clutton-Brock and a student team from Oxford University made a general ecological survey of the area which included some bird information, and subsequently the Japanese Research Teams from Kyoto and Tokyo Universities have collated total species lists for both mammals and birds (JICA, 1980),) but no systematic survey had been conducted of the bird life within the park area. The area is a biogeographical oddity due to the fact that it shares faunal and floral affinities with both the Albertine Rift forests and the Central African forests more so than with the East African forests, either those of the Eastern Arc or the Rift Valley Highlands. Since there is good data on avifauna emanating from both the Congo Basin and the northern Albertine Rift forest blocks, (C. Kahindo Ngabo et al 2002) a more quantitative and comprehensive account of the bird life in the Mahale area can positively contribute to our absolute and comparative knowledge of this interesting and overlooked area. This paper records the results of a systematic survey of the main habitats within the National Park undertaken over a two week period in June 2004.
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