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The Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Wetland System Ramsar Site, declared in 2006, consists of the River Nile from the Murchison Falls up to and including a small part of Lake Albert. Before entering the lake, the river splits into three main channels passing through an extensive delta supporting a papyrus swamp; the Ramsar site also includes the land within a kilometre of the river banks, north and south. Most is within Murchison Falls National Park. The river, including the channels through the papyrus, supports large numbers of waterbirds of many species. For a year, we undertook monthly waterbird counts along the channels through the delta swamps, and on the section of Lake Albert within the Ramsar site. Overall, we recorded 78 waterbird species and the site regularly supports three globally and another seven nationally threatened species, including Shoebill Balaeniceps rex, Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum and Papyrus Gonolek Laniarius mufumbiri. The site is also important for large numbers of White-winged Black Terns Chlidonias leucopterus on passage. Most of the larger species, such as White-faced Whistling Duck Dendrocygna viduata and Long-tailed Cormorant Microcarbo africanus rarely, if ever breed in this area, instead their numbers drop at the times when they are expected to breed, apparently elsewhere. A number of pairs of Fish Eagles Haliaeetus vocifer breed, and there is a small colony of African Darters Anhinga rufa. The large numbers of easily- seen birds attract increasing numbers of visitors, adding to the site's value. Various industrial activities are planned within the watershed of this Ramsar Site, mainly associated with oil and gas, and our data are expected to provide baseline data for future monitoring of the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six out of seven vulture species whose global ranges lie largely or wholly within Africa are listed as globally threatened. Since their current distributions individually span up to 39 range states there is a pressing need to develop robust, standardised methods that provide a clear measure of range-wide changes in abundance. Yet, survey methods currently used tend to yield either of two measures: estimates of breeding density, derived mainly from nest counts; or linear encounter rates, derived from road surveys. Here, we present the results of a six-year survey of six vulture species in Uganda, in which we used road counts, in combination with Distance sampling, to determine both encounter rates and densities within protected areas (PAs), and in predominantly pastoral and agricultural areas. In combination, five scavenging species were detected 4–6 times more frequently in PAs than elsewhere, and two species, White-backed Vulture Gyps africanus and Lappet-faced Vulture Torgus tracheliotus, were recorded only within PAs. We estimate that PAs held c.1,300–3,900 individuals of the five scavenging species combined, including c.1,250–2,900 individuals of two Gyps species. We also present national population estimates for two species: White-backed Vulture (c.1,000–2,600 birds) and Lappet-faced Vulture (c.160–500 birds). Although sightings were assigned to only three broad distance bands, Distance sampling provided estimates with a level of precision similar to that achieved for linear encounter rates, but as density estimates; a form more readily comparable with results obtained from other survey types. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]