Abstract:
Birds are the most diverse group of animals that distributed in different habitats. The study about
species composition, relative abundance and habitat association of avian fauna in Zegie
Peninsula forest patches and associated wetlands was carried out from August 2018 to March
2019, covering both the wet and dry seasons. Forest, shrub, lakeshore and wetland habitats were
identified habitat types in the study area for data collection. Data were collected using point
count and line transect methods, for 24 days in total for both seasons in the morning and
afternoon. A total of 96 species of birds were identified during the whole study period. Out of the
total, 40 species were observed during the wet season; 13 during dry and 43 species in both
seasons. There was statistically significance variation of species distribution among habitats
(χ
2
=11.89, df=3, p=0.008). During the wet season, the highest species diversity was recorded in
the wetland habitat (H’=3.3) followed by forest habitat (H’= 2.9). During the dry season, avian
diversity was highest in lakeshore (H’=2.58) followed by wetland (H’=2.51). Highest evenness
was observed in the shrub land (E=0.87) and (E=0.84) during the wet and dry seasons,
respectively .During the wet season, the highest species similarity was recorded between wetland
and lakeshore habitat (SI=0.39) and during the dry season the highest species similarity was
recorded between forest and shrub habitats (SI= 0.6).Based on encounter rate data 64(66.66%) of
the avian species were uncommon. Currently, however, the species diversity in the area
decreases. This might be due to various anthropogenic activities such as deforestation of trees for
timber and cutting tree for fire wood. Therefore, awareness creation should be given to the local
community to reduce habitat destruction due to various human induced factors such as tree
cutting and fire wood production within the area.