Altitudinal zonation of the avifauna in Mwanihana and Magombera Forests, eastern Tanzania
Stuart, S.N., Jensen, F.P. and Brogger-Jensen, S. 1987.
Altitudinal zonation of the avifauna in Mwanihana and Magombera Forests, eastern Tanzania.
Le Gerfaut, 77: 165–186.
Abstract
The avifauna of the Mwanihana and Magombera Forests in Tanzania is of great interest, on account of the large number of rare and threatened species present. In this paper the altitudinal zonation of the 101 forest species is described, and although the data are not yet complete, there is shown to be a broad altitudinal overlap between lowland and montane species. As in the Usambara and Uluguru Mountains, many montane species occur, at least seasonally, at remarkably low altitudes. Notes are provided on selected species and the importance of Mwanihana Forest for bird conservation is emphasized. There are probably several more lowland-forest species yet to be found in Magombera Forest, and possibly a small number of montane species at the highest elevations on the Mwanihana escarpment. The forest avifauna of Mwanihana is very different from that found in the dry forest on the Uzungwa plateau, but the nature of the intergradation of the bird communities of the escarpment and plateau forests is not yet understood.
