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There has been an incursion of an exotic Leucaena leucocephala in disturbed areas and into habitat patches of native tree species in some areas in Tanzania. However, the impacts of this exotic tree on native biodiversity are not well understood. We assessed bird use of habitat patches dominated by L. leucocephala in comparison to patches of native tree species at the University of Dar es Salaam main campus, Tanzania, by comparing bird species richness, abundance and diversity using mist netting. Based on the same mist netting efforts in each habitat patch type, patches of native trees had significantly higher overall diversity (t = 1.999, df = 293.64, p < 0.05) and abundance (χ2 = 40.525, df = 1, p < 0.001) of birds than those dominated by the exotic L. leucocephala and significantly greater abundance of forest-dependent species (χ2 = 10.938, df = 1, p < 0.001) and forest visitors (χ2 = 15.258, df = 1, p < 0.001). The similarity in bird species between the two habitats was 0.658 indicating that many bird species occurred in both habitat types. The lower diversity and overall abundance of birds in the patches dominated by the exotic plant suggest that it does not provide appropriate habitat for many bird species, and further spread of this exotic will be detrimental to the local avifauna. Keywords: Birds, diversity, native tree species, exotic tree species, Leucaena leucocephala.

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) have been thought as being a sustainable model that can promote wildlife conservation while improving the livelihoods of rural communities. Some WMAs in Tanzania have been found to be species-rich with abundant wildlife communities. Such WMAs include Mbarang’andu and Kimbanda WMAs in southern Tanzania which together with Nalika, Chingoli and Kisungule WMAs form a wildlife corridor that connects Nyerere National Park in Tanzania and Niassa Special Reserve in Mozambique. While the mammalian fauna of the Ruvuma landscape is well documented, the avifauna is comparatively poorly known. From 122 1-km transects, this study reports on the bird species found in miombo woodlands in Mbarang’andu and Kimbanda WMAs. One hundred and fifty-six species were observed of which two are globally threatened and 20 were biome-restricted, suggesting that the miombo woodlands in Mbarang’andu and Kimbanda WMAs are important forthe conservation of birds in southern Tanzania. We recommend that further avifaunal surveys focus on less sampled areas in our study, including riverine forests and swampy habitats.

Wildlife management areas (WMAs) have been used as a wildlife conservation model with a dual purpose: improving wildlife conservation and livelihoods of rural communities. While some WMAs such as Burunge WMA have been found to support species-rich and abundant wildlife communities, particularly large mammals, some wildlife taxa, including birds, have not been thoroughly studied. This study reports on the bird species (as well as their relative abundances) found in Acacia woodlands in Burunge WMA. From 106, 20-species lists, 145 species were observed, including 22 out of 77 Somali – Masai biome-restricted species found in Tanzania. The results suggest that the Acacia woodlands in Burunge WMA provide habitats for a diversity of birds. Given the diverse avifauna, the Burunge WMA remains as an important birding site within the Tarangire – Manyara ecosystem, and therefore, improving awareness will not only make the area potential for avitourism, but also encourage further avian research.

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Additional methods and results, including 9 figures; Justification and model development for phylogenetic comparative methods

On the most south-western slopes of the Udzungwa Mountains in Tanzania lies Kihansi River. The river was diverted underground in 2000 to run electric turbines for electricity generation. Using mist netting, pre-diversion (in 1998 and 1999) and short term post-diversion (in 2001) effects of the river diversion on understorey birds were undertaken before and year after river diversion, respectively. Intermediate and long-term effects of river diversion on understorey birds at the same transects are non-existent. In September 2008 and August and September 2018, using mist nets, birds were surveyed at the same transects to assess whether or not there have been changes in avian community structure, abundance and diversity eight and 18 years after the river was diverted. Results suggest that there have been no significant changes in pre- diversion and eight and 18Keywords: Avian community composition; Kihansi River; Mist netting; River diversion; Species diversity; Understorey forest birds

Little is known of the nesting bird species in most of urban areas of East Africa. An investigation was made of the occurrence of breeding bird species in the fragmented thickets found in the Mwalimu Nyerere Campus of the University of Dar es Salaam, in the City of Dar es Salaam. The study examined how habitat fragmentation affects nesting bird species richness and diversity in the thickets. Systematic physical nest searches of breeding birds were conducted in the fragmented thickets. Searches were conducted in transects and they included inspecting vegetation, bare ground, cavities, stream (river) banks and other suitable nesting locations for the presence of active nests. Numbers and diversity of nesting bird species increased with fragment size which suggest that most nesting birds avoid smaller fragments and that reductions in size of habitat might negatively affect majority of the nesting bird species. For continued conservation of birds, protection of the remaining thicket fragments on the campus is recommended.Keywords: fragmentation, nesting birds, thickets, campus of the University of Dar es Salaam, nest species diversity

This study was conducted in unprotected agricultural land located just west of the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem to assess 1) avian community composition in four different habitat types, and 2) the importance of kopjes found in agricultural areas in conservation of birds. All species recorded during this study have been recorded in the nearby Serengeti Ecosystem suggesting that the study area is a subset of this ecosystem. The density of bird species and individuals were higher in the kopjes than in the surrounding human-impacted habitats. Thus the kopjes in farmland increase regional avifaunal diversity, and this is likely due to the provision of diverse habitats. The kopjes as well as the surrounding habitats are important for bird species conservation even though they are found in agricultural areas.

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Little is known about the seasonal elevational movements for most tropical avifauna species. Seasonal elevational movements of the Eastern Olive Sunbird Cyanomitra olivacea were studied along an elevational gradient from 600 to 1 500 m above sea level in the Uluguru Mountains, Tanzania, between May 2005 and February 2006. The recapture of ringed individuals along an elevational gradient across seasons provided evidence for the seasonal elevational movement of the Eastern Olive Sunbird in the Uluguru Mountains and the first documented evidence for this species in the Eastern Arc Mountains as a whole. Due to forest fragmentation and lack of corridors connecting high- and low-altitude forests in the Uluguru Mountains, the results have implications for conservation of the forest along the entire elevational gradient as well as for other forest bird species that have been documented to make seasonal elevational movements in the Uluguru Mountains and the entire Eastern Arc Mountains.Keywords: abundance, Eastern Arc Mountains, elevation movement, hot and cold seasons, recapture, ringing, Uluguru Mountains

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In Tanzania, the success of habitat restoration in mining areas to create suitable environmental conditions for wildlife is poorly understood. Between March 2010 and December 2014 bird species were recorded at the Golden Pride Project area, a gold mine in Nzega District, central Tanzania. The aims of this study were to document bird communities in the mine area, and to assess the extent to which rehabilitated areas have been recolonised. Mist netting, point counts, timed species counts and opportunistic observations were used to document 181 species of birds at the mine area. These included two species endemic to Tanzania, the Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill Tockus ruahae (treated here as a species separate from T. erythrorhynchus, see Kemp & Delport 2002, Sinclair & Ryan 2010) and Ashy Starling Cosmopsarus unicolor. Rehabilitated areas had about half the number of species found in the unmined areas. Bird use of areas under rehabilitation suggests that habitat restoration can be used to create corridors linking fragmented landscapes. Results suggest that as the vegetation of the rehabilitated areas becomes more structurally complex, the number of bird species found there will be similar to those in unmined areas. This study provides a baseline for future monitoring, leading to a better understanding of the process of avian colonisation of rehabilitated areas. Furthermore, results imply that in mining areas it is useful to have an unmined area where vegetation is naturally allowed to regenerate, free of human activity. These unmined areas can later act as source habitats from which birds can disperse into rehabilitation areas once the vegetation structure is sufficiently complex.