Diversity and Community Structure of Birds in Urbanized Habitats of a City in the Arid Zone in South-Western Africa

ABSTRACT: Towns and cities may provide suitable habitats for wildlife, including birds. In Africa, ecological studies on avian communities are, however, rare. Namibia is an exception to the rule, but even here, there is still an urgent need to conduct such studies in various urban habitats. This study has been conducted on breeding bird communities in Windhoek, the largest city in the country. Bird communities were quantified in five distinguished habitats by means of the line transect method. In total, 16 transects were designed, with a total length of 82.8 km. The studies were conducted in August 2020. The avian assemblage was composed of 32–45 resident (breeding) bird species in various habitats of the city, with 4–7 dominant species distinguished in each habitat. In all distinguished habitats, granivores comprised more than half of all birds recorded. Frugivores comprised 20.4–28.0% in most habitats. In most habitats, birds nesting on trees or shrubs comprised at least 50%, except for the city centre, where they comprised only 30.6%. On the other hand, only in the city center, species nesting on/in buildings comprised as much as 68.2%; in all other habitats their contribution ranged between 39.2% and 48.5%. The Shannon’s Diversity Index ranged slightly between 1.17 and 1.26. Also the Pielou’s Evenness Index was much the same (0.31–0.36) in all habitats investigated.