Abundance, Nesting and Habitat for White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Plocepasser mahali) in Northeastern Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

Abstract

Studies on abundance, nesting and habitat for White-browed sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser mahali) in Northeast Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania are scarce. This study's objective was to carry out a study on abundance, nesting and habitat for P. mahali in order to alleviate such knowledge gap. The transect point sampling was used in sampling the birds, plants, and nests at each point at specified time. The abundance of P. mahali was observed to be affected by habitat type, where the woodland scored the highest. Burning of habitats was observed to have impacts on the diversity of bird species. However, number of nests was not influenced by abundance of P. mahali. We recommend further studies on this species to be undertaken in the ecosystem. Also we suggest species diversity should be used in monitoring the health of ecosystem rather than individual species.