Abstract:
Birds are one component of biodiversity and Ethiopia contains a high level of bird diversify.
Study on diversity, relative abundance, and habitat association of birds in Durja community
protected area, Awi Zone, Ethiopia, was carried out from April 2024 to August 2024. The
main objective of this study was to investigate the diversity abundance, and habitat
association of birds at Durja natural forest. Random sampling approach was used to classify
habitats and select sampling plots based on vegetation type. Consequently, forest,
bushland,and grassland, habitats were used for data collection. Data were collected using
the point count method in the forest and line transect in bushland and grassland. Observation was
conducted by periodically walking along the study area early in the morning(7:00 to10:00) and late
in the afternoon(3:00 to 6:00) when the activity of bird is prominant. The data were analyzed using
Shannon Weiner's index, Species richness, evenness and chi squar test . A total of 45 avian
species belonging to 28 families and 7 orders were identified. Among the total number of 45
species 44 species were recorded during the dry season and 37 species were found during the
wet season. Of a total of 45 bird species, three are endemic to Ethiopia (Abyssinian catbird,
Abyssinian long claw, and Yellow-fronted parrot) and five are shared between Ethiopia and
Eritrea. Durja had the highest avian diversity during the dry season (H´=3.6) in the bush
land habitat and the grassland habitat had the lowest (H´=3.24) during the wet season.
Species composition of birds among different habitats is measured by species similarity and
the highest species similarity occurred between grassland and forest (SI=0.49) during the dry
season, followed by grassland and bush land (SI=0.46) during the dry season, and the lowest
was between bushland and forest (SI=0.31) during the wet season. The highest evenness was
observed in the Grassland (E= 1.0) and Forest while the lowest evenness was observed in the
Bushland (E= 0.96). chi squar result(P=0.0284) shows that Variation in abundance of birds
was statistically significant between seasons and habitat. To safeguard the rich bird diversity
of the Durja forest, the anthropogenic disturbances in the area should be reduced. Therefore,
there must be a cooperative effort between the local people and different governmental and
non-governmental organizations to protect the entire ecosystem to conserve the whole
biodiversity of the area in general and the bird diversity in particular