BY ADDISALEM MULAT
There is no gainsaying the fact that birds are one of the most fascinating creatures on earth. They can survive in so many different habitats and have evolved into a spectacular diversity of forms.
It is estimated that there are about 10,000 species of birds in the world making birds one of the most diverse creatures in the animal kingdom.
Of late, The Ethiopian Herald had a short stay with Dr. Bezawork Afework, Assistant Professor of Avian Ecology and Behavior, and Chairperson, Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University on the topic of bird species.
According to her, birds are eye-catching with their colorful feathers making them the only extant animals that possess feathers that aid the ability to fly. Feathers first appeared in the dinosaurs long before birds evolved.
The discovery of fossil evidence such as the Archaeopteryx in 1860 in Germany was a breakthrough in the evolution of birds where Paleontologists view Archaeopteryx as a transitional fossil between dinosaurs and modern birds.
The Archaeopteryx lived around 150 million years ago in the late Jurassic Period and possessed both avian and reptilian features. It had flight and tail feathers and scientists believe Archaeopteryx likely had some aerodynamic abilities.
However, in dinosaurs, the feathers were most likely used for insulation or display not for flight. More complex feathers specialized for flight took birds, the only remaining dinosaur lineage, to new heights.
With such a high diversity, birds range in size from the largest ostrich to the smallest hummingbirds. They are also diverse behaviorally where some are highly social and others not. Some birds build elaborate homes and raise their young while others are brood parasites laying their eggs in another birds’ nest,” underscored Dr. Bezawork.
She went on to say, “Birds migrate to warm places during long winter to overcome unfavorable environmental conditions and they morphologically, physiologically, and behaviorally, prepare themselves for such long-distance migration. Among birds, songbirds make up almost half of the world’s avian species.
These birds can make complex songs with pitch and rhythm which is species-specific used to establish and defend a territory and attract a mate. These songs must be learned early in life and polished through time through learning from other individuals to perfection.
As per Dr. Bezawork, the most interestingly modern version is that only humans have the power of conscious thought. However, some birds are comparable to chimpanzees in their cognitive abilities solving problems that require causal reasoning, flexibility, prospection, and imagination.
For example, Alex the Gray Parrot has an amazing ability to verbally discriminate between similar and dissimilar objects and recognizes shapes colors, and numbers at the level of 4-5-year-old child suggesting language is no longer a distinctly human attribute. For such reasons, these groups of birds are even dubbed as “feathered apes”
“Apart from their beauty, interesting behavior, and cognitive capacity, birds are part of the global ecosystem. Their presence or absence can have a detrimental effect on the environment. They are good indicators of habitat quality and environmental degradation that serve as indicators to monitor environmental changes like the level of contamination and environmental impacts,” Dr. Bezawork added.
Thus, although defined by their fauna, the conservation of important avian areas would ensure the survival of a correspondingly large number of other taxa. Hence, beyond the sheer joy they provide, birds play a vital role in the environment, pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, controlling insects, and removing carrion. We are more intertwined with birds more than we imagine and birds help the environment and hence our lives.
Among African countries, Ethiopia, a country with one of the hotspots of biodiversity in the world with varied and unique environmental conditions, is one of the richest and incredible ornithological destinations consisting of more than 863 bird species. The avifauna represents an interesting mixture of east and west African, Palearctic, and some strikingly unusual endemic components.
She stressed that the astonishing avian richness can be attributed to the diversity in climatic zones, topography, and varied habitats. The lush and green forests, woodlands, moist and arid savannah, lakes, rugged terrain, and wetlands are home to Ethiopian birds.
She further stressed that the country provides an important wintering site for migrating birds from Europe where large congregations are observed during these periods attracting a growing number of tourists and nature lovers from all over the world to visit Ethiopia for bird watching.
In fact, Ethiopia is said to be a paradise for birds where nowhere else but in Ethiopia that it is possible to observe so many species to admire, including endemic ones. Currently, about 16 species are endemic to Ethiopia and 15 are near-endemic shared with Eritrea. Besides, about 25 accidental and one introduced species have been recorded.
“About 68 Important Bird Areas (IBAs), priority sites for biodiversity conservation, and four Endemic Bird Areas (EBAs) including Central Ethiopian highlands, Jubba and Shebelle valleys, Northern Ethiopia and South Ethiopian highlands are designated in Ethiopia. These areas possess high species diversity and range-restricted species that are found only in limited areas”
For example, the highlands of Ethiopia offer several species not found elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa with a considerable number of endemic and near-endemic species including Blue-winged Goose, Ethiopian Siskin, Wattled Ibis, and Abyssinian Longclaw. The Rift Valley, punctuated by several large lakes, offers few endemics but very diverse and enjoyable woodland birding.
Although bird diversity and population of avifauna is one of the most important ecological indicators to evaluate the quality of habitats and ecological health, nowadays, the diversity has been decreasing due to the destruction of natural habitats and hence habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation, a decline in food availability and human disturbances.
Changes in vegetation structure and composition can impact bird communities. Alterations of riverine ecosystems adversely affect bird assemblages. Thus, each of the aforementioned threats solely or synergistically affects the welfare of avian biodiversity in different ecosystems worldwide.
Although Ethiopia is an ornithological paradise, birds are facing several threats due to habitat destruction, pollution, electrocution, collision, and persecution, and economic development also having its share in avian habitat alteration.
Hence, any development activities should take into consideration minimal disturbance to bird habitats and any protection of avian habitat will have a contribution in increasing the population that will ultimately boost wildlife tourism, which Ethiopia has not benefited from with full capacity.
Bird watching is an international pastime and many neighboring countries have been benefiting from it for boosting their economy and Ethiopia as one of the most spectacular places in the world for this sport can significantly benefit from the industry and avian tourism should be encouraged.
Birds provide cultural, aesthetic, and scientific importance to human beings and hence matter in our ecosystem. Hence, one needs to keep common birds the common, remove environmental threats, appreciate ecosystem services birds provide, and consider the economic and aesthetic value.
This can be attained with the commitment to the protection and preservation of nature as it is the basis for all our future. Recently, avian studies are considerably increasing by students, researchers, and bird enthusiasts in Ethiopia. Birds receiving attention and such ornithological studies play a significant role in understanding our avian wealth identify their preferred habitats and threats so that proper conservation interventions can enact.
Although many birds are lost due to different aforementioned reasons, still many species still exist in every corner of the globe. One reason why birds matter is that they are our best connection to a natural world that is otherwise receding. Human beings may monopolize the world’s resources but also have consciousness and free will, the capacity to remember our pasts and shape the future.
Human beings are worthy than other animals but also can discern right from wrong and a responsibility to conserve nature in general and birds in particular. Birds have been on earth 150 million years longer than human beings but human beings are changing the earth for various development activities too quickly for birds to get time to adapt and evolve making the future of most bird species depend on our commitment to preserving them.
The Ethiopian herald December 15/2020
