Avifauna of Ethiopia: Some risk aspects

Threatened animal species in Africa (WCM/IUCN 1998) 

Many of the endemic species in the Horn of Africa live in very narrowly defined areas. 30 of 67 species in the Endemic Breeding Bird table inhabit areas of less than 20,000 square km, eight of them even in areas of 200 square km or less. Therefore, the risk potential of these species must be assessed as high. Regional and even local changes in land use or climate conditions can have serious consequences for the development and survival of small populations.

According to IUCN, 17 of the 67 endemic bird species are considered as "endangered", three of them as "critical endangered": Ochre-brested Francolin (Francolinus ochropectus), Archers's Lark (Heteromirafra archeri) and Liben Lark (Heteromirafra sidamoensis). The latter exists only in an approximately 30-acre area in southern Ethiopia. The total population size is estimated to be less than 250 individuals (Donald et al. 2010). If no protection measures are implemented in the near future, we will probably witness its extinction. Encouraging are recent observations from May 2011, after which the species occurs in another small area in north eastern Ethiopia (Nigel Collar, oral information). Genetic studies should also clarify whether H. archeri and H. sidamoensis are actually different taxa.

Looking at the birds of the African continent as a whole, the avifauna of Eastern Africa (including Horn of Africa and offshore islands) is particularly at risk. Back in the nineteen nineties, 107 bird species in that area were threatened according to IUCN criteria (critical endangered, endagered or vulnerable ). That's more than 50% of then 207 threatened bird species in Africa (WCM / IUCN 1998).