Mahale Mountains National Park | Summary of Resource Base

• Large numbers of migratory birds are observed in, and passing over, MMNP at
certain times of the year (e.g., October and November).
• Mahale is likely to be critically important for Palearctic and Intra-African birds
migrating through western Tanzania.
• Large numbers of passerine migrants are also observed. For example, European
Orioles, Oriolus oriolus, feed on fruit in Mahale in October/November, before
continuing their southward journey. Some migrants, e.g., Garden Warblers,
Sylvia borin, Willow Warblers, Phylloscopus trochillus, and Blackcaps, Sylvia
atricapilla, over-winter in Mahale.
• The Tanzanian Bird Atlas lists MMNP as an Important Bird Area (IBA). To be listed
as an IBA, a site must meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Category A1 - globally threatened species (site regularly holds significant
numbers of a globally threatened species);
- Category A2 - restricted range (site known or thought to hold a significant
component of the group of species whose distributions define an Endemic Bird
Area (EBA));
- Category A3 - biome restricted assemblage (site known or thought to
hold a significant component of the group of species whose distributions are
largely or wholly confined within one biome);
- Category A4 – congregations ((i) site known to hold more than 1% of a
biogeographical population of a waterbird species; (ii) site known or thought
to hold more than 1% of the global population of a congregatory nonwaterbird
species; (iii) site known or thought to hold more than 20,000
waterbirds or 10,000 pairs of seabirds of one or more species; (iv) site known
or thought to exceed thresholds set for migratory species at bottleneck sites.
MMNP meets three of these criteria:
- Category A1 – globally threatened species: the Kungwe Apalis (Apalis
argentea) is listed as endangered (IUCN Red Data List, 2007);
- Category A2 – restricted range - EBA 106 (Albertine Rift Mountains):
the Kungwe Apalis (Apalis argentea) and the Regal Sunbird (Cinnyris regia);
- Category A3 – biome restricted assemblages: African highlands biome -
24 species (26%) out of a country total of 91 have been recorded.
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