Long monitoring of Birds of Elssuki Area. Sinnar State, Sudan

This study aims to make a database of the birds in the area of Elssuki, Sinnar state - Sudan. The period of study spanning from 2008 to 2023 with a mix of methods used to identify bird species in many sites in the locality, these methods include road count, line transects, and direct count besides registering every strange, rare, or unusual single species seen in the area. All these methods are used by different researchers and applied in such studies in Sudan.

The study revealed that the area is one of the important areas enriched of birds in Sinnar state of 19 orders 53 families. The total number of species is 129 species. It included all birds; water birds, tree birds, diving birds, dabbling birds, swimming birds, small waders, and passerines which the most.

The study concluded that there is a need for comprehensive and regular studies and short and long-term monitoring to identify, classify, and establish a database for Sudan Birds Atlas.

Birds are considered as one of the important ecosystem components and also as an environmental indicator. Blair RB [1]. Due to their sensitivity to pollution in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, bird populations are used as indicators of pollution [2,3]. Monitoring birds and their population diversity can ensure long-term survival through a better understanding of applying methods of conservation measures Caughley. G [4].

The Avifauna of Sudan is not exactly determined but varies between authors. The most reliable study which is a reference base for Sudan is of Nikolous 1987 [5], who stated bird’s species 750 species.

Sudan is located on the main routes used by migratory birds from three continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa). The importance of Sudan for migratory birds using these routes is in; food providing, water, and resting sites during their journey [6].

In Sudan, there are no comprehensive national studies of birds covering the country with the exception of two old ones; Cave and Macdonald [7] recorded 971 species of birds, and Nikolaus [5] listed more than 750 species. The rest updated studies are fragmented and fewer studies are focused on the diversity of birds while some authors tend to study single species.

Sinnar state is considered one of the most important states in bird’s richness. During his study about reptiles, Eldigair [8] found that the number of bird species in the Elssuki locality during the wet season has a strong correlation with the number of trees that increased southwards, and there is relationship between the birds’ richness and some other factors such as birds’ migration, number of small mammals that birds used to feed on beside herbs availability.

Hussien MEAE in 2018 [9], studied the diversity of water birds in some wetlands of Sinnar state He mentioned some important sites in Elssuki locality and their richness of birds. In 2021, he mentioned the area of Essuki is the wintering ground for the Demesell crane [9].

Studying bird diversity can provide a database for researchers and academic institutions to collect data to make an updated list of birds of Sudan. Data availability enabled decision-makers in strategic planning, and set up priority and future conservation measures.

Essuki area is a suitable site for studying birds of its diverse habitat comprising wetlands along the Blue Nile, forest, Agricultural land with a web of canal irrigation, and bare lands. The most important features are the Dindir National Park in the Southwest and the Sinnar Dam reservoir in the North.

Objectives

1. To make a database of bird species for the area of Essuki state.

2. To build up information and data to be used further in the future for the whole Sinnar state.

3. To support and aid academic institutions and research centers and students for a better understanding of classification.

4. Data will be available for governmental agencies and corporations to make strategic plans for wetland management, and exploring Important Bird Area (IBA) in the region and Sudan.

Study area

Elssuki area is located at the Eastern bank of the Blue Nile, Southeast of Sinnar state, N 13 31 67 E 33 8833, its elevation is 399 meters above sea level and its population amounts to 33,524. It is located in the poor Savanah zone (Figure 1). It is dominated by a tropical climate, the mean annual rainfall is 400 mm - 500 mm, and the temperature is 37 ˚C - 40 ˚C.

Elsuki locality (Manucibality) includes three management units; Elssuki, Karkoog, and Allakandi. The capital of the area is Essuki town about 339 km from Kahrtoun and 43 km from Sinnar Dam.

The area is famous for its soil fertility which includes Wifag Agricultural Company with an area of 7560 hectares (2500 feddan) about 7500 are horticultural areas on the Blue Nile. The irrigation system is gravity-fed using pumped water from the Blue Nile. The irrigation system consists of main and major, the main canal length is 21.09 km and 12 m width. The number of majors is 15 canals the length of all these canals is 55 km and 6 m wide, along the sub-length Fath elrahman Mahamoud 2019 [10].

The methods used in this study

Line transect: This method is commonly used in Sudan by many scientists, from certain points four lines are determined, and two lines are chosen randomly, each line is one kilometer long, and the birds are counted using a telescope and binoculars on each side. The line transect method is used in an open and huge area that is unable to cover, where a sample is taken to represent the whole area.

Direct count: A famous method that is used in Sudan where specific and open areas are suitable in wetlands. They can cover as a whole or take percentages according to the number of team members, distance, time, and equipment.

Daily checklist registering for each new bird around.

Each method was used where necessary according to the site.

Materials used in this study are Telescope, Biangular, and GPS.

Site locations are given below in Table 1.

The diversity of birds of Sudan is mainly attributed to the habitat diversity and Sinnar state is not out of this rule. The availability of food, water, and cover comprise major factors in bird distribution and diversity. Overall species representing 19 orders belong to 53 families that include 128 species (Tables 1,2). The higher number of species is in the order Passeriformes, Chaaradriiformes, and Ciconiiformes respectively (Table 3, Figure 2).

Compared with the past studies of Nicklaus 1987 and Macleay 1969 the migration pattern and the range distribution of each species are questionable for many species and no doubt some of them may extend their range southwards from where more water sources and abundance of food (Table 4).

Key:

Accidental A species that rarely or accidentally occurs in Sudan.

Endemic A species endemic to Sudan.

Introduced A species introduced to Sudan as a consequence, direct or indirect, of human actions.

Reg: A species that is a regular or seasonal migrant

The order Passeriformes has the highest number of species recorded 37 distributing to 18 families, while the order Charadriiformes has 28 species consisting of 8 families, Ciconiformes possesses a high species number of most important birds in the area stork’s families are 3 and species are 20, and Coraciiformes has 10 species with 6 families (Table 3).

It is not easy work to search deeper for reasons behind the huge richness of birds in the Elssuki area but the most justification is ascribable to the birds themselves for use of the diverse habitat and the adaptability of birds to occupy new habitat, nevertheless the big diversion habitat the big diversity of bird’s species will consist. In Essuki, many habitats were available for birds to use: tall trees, shrubs, tall weeds, short weeds, agricultural lands, canals, wetlands, and bare land. The wetlands are found in most areas of the Sinnar state where they are scattered along the river Nile on both two banks, while there are some seasonal streams, ponds, canals, and excavation wholes and barrows found by humans. The habitat used by these birds provides them with the most basic needs for living, survival, nesting, and roosting site. The most important things and needs for birds are food for all types of categories Carnivores, herbivores grainivores, fruitivores, and nectarivores, food also includes water which is easy to attain from many different sources.

A study [11] accepted who studied sewage in Khartoum. They stated that many species seem as if they have significant range expansions, or changed their status inside Sudan. A number of species have recently been recorded for the first time in Egypt, including the three-banded Plover and Village Weaver. While a number of species were recorded in the Egyptian List, there is a strong suggestion they would have come from Sudan, and also probably many species could be extending their ranges along the River Nile in both directions, utilising man-made habitats. This gives justification for the appearance of some species like the Painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis) in the locality.

The important finding of the study is that nearly half of the bird species are considered water birds and this is for the reason that the locality is confounded of small seasonal wetlands scattered along the Blue Nile and seasonal streams or excavation barrows or the irrigation canals which all are seasonally flooded, indicating that temporary wetlands in Sudan can potentially be as important as permanent ones in terms of abundance. Waterbird diversity, however, seems maximized in permanent wetlands and lowest in most temporary water bodies. This pattern would fit, for instance, with the one described in the Okavango basin and in South Africa where the hydrological regime was found to primarily affect the composition of the water bird community, with higher, hence more permanent, water levels permitting the accumulation of various water bird guilds seeking foraging opportunities or escaping drying wetlands Marie Suet, et al. 2020 [12].

Sudan is strategically located on a very important water bird migration route and holds important water bird areas. Sudan encompasses huge areas of wetlands represented by the main streams of the Blue and White Nile valleys, floodplains, inland lakes, and marshes, in addition to long coastal and shoreline habitats along the Red Sea. These wetland habitats support numerous varieties of fauna and flora species, including birds [13].

There is no big variation between species that are found in Khartoum state except in a few species, most orders and families may be in both states. Mutasim EA, et al. in 2019 and Mutasim Essa Abdallah, et al. [14,15] in 2023, studied the diversity of Tutti Island and Omdum Island in the Khatoum state respectively, their results revealed great similarity of orders, families, and species. Hussien M.E.A.E in 2021 [16] revealed that Demosell Crane is wintering in other localities like Dindir.

Although the intensive human activities in the area which vary from cultivation, grazing, cutting trees for energy and housing, fishing, and hunting wild birds are considered serious threats to birds, the species richness is quite good with unknown status numbers for all birds of Sudan. Most species are regular migrants or common and endemic to Sudan except two species that are seen once at a period, namely, the Black cap (Sylvia atricapilla) 2011, and the Painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis) 2015, which are very difficult to know their migration pattern or nearly to be classified as an (Accidentals). Hussien MEAE in 2020 [17], studied the relationship between the species richness of birds and vegetation heights in some wetlands of Sinnar state, he found that wetlands of Sinnar State are rich with biodiversity and the distribution of bird species in wetlands along the riverine ecosystem and the importance of overstory cover surrounding these wetlands increase birds’ richness which considered as a good site for roosting, nesting, perching and hunting.

The species richness in other localities is not varied due to the same factor that affects the distribution and abundance.

Osman Salah and Eihab Idris in 2013 [18], described the variation in the community’s structure in the Suot forest and the temporal variation in bird community structure could be attributed to two different factors. First, bird migrational patterns; during the period of observation, some migrating birds (local and Palaearctic migrants) arrive at the study sites, using them as breeding grounds or as stopover sites for food supply. The seasonal movements of migrational birds to and from the study sites are likely to exert a deep influence on the avifauna composition. The second factor that underlies the temporal variation is the cyclic changes in plant cover and insect density that are induced by the seasonal cycle of water availability.

International studies proved the same Sudanese studies of the high diversity and species richness of birds. Some scientists demonstrated that the flooding temporality covariate did not show any effect on waterbird abundance distribution, indicating that temporary wetlands in Sudan can potentially be as important as permanent ones in terms of abundance, this is accepted with national studies showing the high abundance of birds and richness in small wetlands in central Sudan. Waterbird diversity, however, seems maximized in permanent wetlands and lowest in most temporary water bodies. This pattern would fit, for instance, with the one described in the Okavango basin by Cumming, et al. [19] and in South Africa by Harebottle [20], where the hydrological regime was found to primarily affect the composition of the water bird community, with higher, hence more permanent, water levels permitting the accumulation of various water bird guilds seeking foraging opportunities or escaping drying wetlands.

Since there are no long or short monitoring studies in Sudan- which is one of the acute problems facing researchers and ornithologists – The bird’s evaluation, range distribution, and comparison of species existence is very hard and depends only on old studies and few scientific papers.

Monitoring can help researchers to a better understanding of migration patterns, the season arrival, and the return back of each species to make suitable measures and procedures for the conservation of critically threatened species through collaboration between national and international agencies.

The most important conclusion is that the gaps still appear, it’s the head for very crucial information about many species that need to clarify their status or even existence. There is a gap in information about the avifauna of Sinnar state and needs updating through regular studies. There are many important bird areas that are neglected and not studied yet. The wetlands of Sinnar State are rich in biodiversity, and the locality is still hosting very important species like the Deemosell crane and other species for which they need special single programs.

Recommendations

According to the study and its findings, the recommendations are as follows:

1. There is an urgent need for comprehensive projects for Sudan Birds Atlas.

2. The need for collecting all studies of birds to establish a basic unit for the database to analyse, and sort data by state, to know the gap and priorities sites that should be studied.

3. Increase and strengthen the training of bird watchers in academic research centres, non-governmental societies, and even volunteers.

4. More collaboration between the national institutions.

5. Raising awareness among the community and between associated governmental sectors such as agriculture, Electricity, and Animal resources.

6. The priority of conducting studies by political or administrative sites for the huge area of Sudan and states and establishing ornithological centres in each state or University.

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