In the meantime, the unit has developed, together with the Ornithology Section of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, an important model database on the conservation status and biogeography of Namibian birds (below). Bibliographic data on literature holdings of the National Biodiversity Programme and the DEA are also held here.

The Avifaunal Database Project

Many more data have been collected on birds in Namibia than any other group of species. These data represent an extremely valuable source of information on a variety of aspects such as recent and historical distributions, density, breeding characteristics and habitat use and can potentially be used for numerous purposes such as conservation and management planning, ecological or behavioural studies. This database contains data from many sources. By using data from several sources, it is often possible to derive an 'overall picture' which is not provided by using just one data set alone. When used in conjunction with comparable data on other taxa, e.g. plants, mammals and reptiles, these data provide a unique and invaluable management and planning tool. Some potential uses of the bird data are:

• Identification of indicator species of habitat quality and change, particularly species at the top of the food chain, e.g. raptors

• Identification of key habitats and sites for targeted groups of birds e.g. wetlands used by >1% of the global population of at least one species, which thus qualify as potential Ramsar sites

• Comparative assessments of changes in raptor densities across the country in relation to factors such as changes in land use, habitat degradation, rainfall

• Identification of Important Bird Areas based on congruence of bird groups such as Red Data species, wetland birds, raptors

The database also includes an extensive bibliography of references relating to birds in Namibia and southern Africa as well as an on-line version of a user manual (6 MB).

The Avifaunal Database Project started in January 1997, with the aim of entering all of Namibia's bird data onto a database, developing a user-friendly interface to facilitate the easy use of these data by people with an interest in biodiversity and conservation and doing some preliminary data analyses. A key objective of the project was to produce a database that could be used as a model system for other taxa, demonstrating the benefits of compiling data onto a powerful, yet user-friendly, system. The Namibian Avifaunal Database is housed at the DEA in Windhoek. See also Bird research and survey projects.

Data sets held in the Avifaunal Database

The database contains five substantial data sets with related species and geographical information. The data sets are:

• Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP) data

• Raptor road count data

• Wetland data

• Museum data

• Nest record data

The SABAP was a huge public participation project covering the southern African region; the results of the project were published in the two-volume Atlas of Southern African Birds in 1997. Bird atlas data were collected in Namibia between 1970 and 1993; some historical data were also incorporated. Data were collected in the form of species lists at the resolution of quarter degree squares (QDS; c. 27 x 27 km) and calendar month. Proven or suspected breeding activity was also recorded. The Namibian dataset contains over half a million records of 605 species. Collectively, SABAP is regarded as Africa's biggest biodiversity database.

Uses of these data include

• mapping of bird distributions and relative abundance

• identification of breeding localities

• assessing seasonality of bird distributions and movements

• obtaining species lists and reporting rates for areas such as National Parks and selected QDS

• diversity analyses to identify areas of particular importance for selected species or groups of species

The Raptor Road Count project was launched in 1977 and data collection has continued since then, though in recent years interest has tailed off. This is a public participation project whereby raptors and storks are recorded whilst driving along roads and tracks throughout the country. For each observation, the time of day, species, number of birds and odometer is recorded, with additional information on activity and age often being recorded. The amount of data collected by this project is impressive: by 1997 over 300 people had been involved, recording 116 551 birds, of 63 species of raptors during 1.2 million km of driving throughout the whole country. Raptor road count forms can be printed from here (595KB; PDF).

Uses of these data include

• assessing changes in density of raptor species over time to provide a baseline for future monitoring

• assessing effects of factors such as land use change on raptor densities

• assessing breeding success and population dynamics of raptor populations over time

• monitoring the health of species at the top of the food chain, as indicators of environmental health

Regular bird counts at selected wetlands and coastal sites throughout the country have been undertaken since 1991, with some earlier information also available for a few sites, e.g. Walvis Bay and Sandwich Harbour. Data are recorded on IWRB (Wetlands International) forms. Counts have generally been made during the months of January, April and/or July, though few sites have been counted at every count date and many new sites have been added since 1991. See also Bird research and survey projects and Wetlands working group.

Uses of these data include

• identification of Namibia's most important wetland sites in terms of overall number of birds, number of Red Data species, number of migratory birds etc

• monitoring of these key sites, many of which are threatened or endangered in Namibia

• using birds as indicators of 'health' of wetland sites

Many museums around the world hold ornithological specimens that were originally collected in Namibia, some dating back to expeditions made in the early 1800s and before. By January 1999, the database contained information on over 24 000 specimens, of which over 8000 are held at the National Museum of Namibia. For many species, particularly larks, weavers and finches there are several hundred specimens, with Sabota lark (Mirafra sabota) topping the list with almost 500 specimens. Most specimens have associated information on the collection date and locality, although for some this is simply "Damaraland" or "Kaokoveld".

Uses of these data include

• comparison of historical bird distributions with those of SABAP, for example, to produce an insight into changes over time and factors influencing birds

Nest record data have been collected on nest record cards for many years, with some additional data going back to the 1860's. Nests are recorded either as single nests or breeding colonies. By January 1999, several species had over 100 nest records, particularly those which have been the focus of research projects, topped by Damara tern (Sterna balaenarum) with over 1000 cards. Others with over 100 cards include ostrich (Struthio camelus), lappetfaced vulture (Torgos tracheliotus), whitefronted plover (Charadrius marginatus) and African marsh warbler (Acrocephalus baeticatus). See also Bird research and survey projects.

Uses of these data include

• identifying species which regularly breed in Namibia

• identifying important breeding sites in Namibia

• providing baseline data on e.g. egg size, clutch size, seasonality, breeding success

• assessing effects of factors such as geographical location, rainfall and human disturbance on breeding attempts

Endemics data

The database also contains data on ten of Namibia’s 14+ inland endemic species, based on fieldwork carried out during 7 months in 1996 . These data represent predicted numbers of each species in each QDS in Namibia, and a diversity ranking (Shannon Index) based on these predictions. See also Bird research and survey projects.

Uses of these data include

• assessment of population sizes and distributions of Namibia’s endemics

• identification of key areas for these species and assessment of their protection status

Contacts

Rob Simmons, Alice Jarvis, Tony Robertson