DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Sunbird Community Organization: Opportunities and Challeges for Conservation in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya

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Amani Sunbird (Anthreptes pallidigaster), exists in two forests in the world. In Kenya, it resides in a 6,700 ha coastal Brachystegia woodland within Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. The forest is under demand for selective logging, eco-tourism, and small scale building pole and fuel wood collection. Will these activities compromise or, in the extreme, cause the extirpation of the Amani Sunbird? My project will answer this question. To accomplish these goals, I will use foraging theory and habitat selection theory to understand community organization among Amani Sunbird (Anthreptes pallidigaster), Plain-backed Sunbird (Anthreptes reichenowi yokanae), Collared Sunbird (Anthreptes collaris) and Olive Sunbird (Nectarinia olicacea). Specifically, I will census sunbirds and use direct observation to measure activity patterns of sunbirds in response to habitat type, competitors, predators, nectar and insect availability to determine the factors that promote species success and the factor that threatens it.. Together, these data will allow me to determine the habitat preferences of Amani Sunbirds, and how habitat modification and competition from other species affect these preferences. A longer-range goal of this approach will be to develop good indicators of current and future problems for a wide variety of bird species, and needs for intervention in this important and severely threatened forest. This project is being co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.