Avifauna Assessment of Lake Ol Bolossat Ecosystem, Kenya

In understanding the distribution, species richness, and their temporal changes in an environment, we are able to connect any perverse changes in avifaunal species composition and structure to the state of health of an ecosystem. However, the potential of birds as an indicator of the state of health of our environment has not been utilized fully to understand the changes in their habitats, most of which are anthropogenic in nature.

Ornithological assessment of Ol’ Bolossat ecosystem counted a total of 779 individual birds comprising 162 species using a combination of point counts, timed-species counts, and opportunistic observations. Modelling using a nonlinear regression procedure showed that L. Ol Bolossat has the potential to provide a habitat for between 200 and 375 bird species if fieldwork is conducted for 100 days. The bird survey recorded 24 bird species of conservation interest, among them three species categorized by IUCN as endangered, two species that are listed by IUCN as vulnerable, one endemic species, 20 Palearctic migrant species, and two species that are classified as Intra-African migrant, one of which is categorized as vulnerable.