The Avian Collection of the Coastal Forests at the National Museums of Kenya's Ornithology Section

Study Extent

Bird specimen in this dataset were collected in the Kenyan coastal region located in the southeast part of Kenya. Counties covered included Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Tana River. Some of the forests which were covered included Mrima Forest, Kitobo Forest, Bura Forest, Mt. Mbololo Forest all in Taita Taveta County, Shimba Hills in Kwale County, Arabuko Sokoke in Kilifi County and Lower Tana River Forest Fragments in Tana River County.

Sampling

Bird specimen which died naturally or shot with shotguns from the coastal forests were collected by volunteers and brought to the Museums.

Quality Control

Specimens brought by volunteers in the museums were identified by skilled scientists in the Museum and skilled Laboratory Technicians did the taxidermy.

Method steps

1. Bird specimens brought at the National Museums of Kenya Ornithology Section are brought by volunteers. Cause of death of these birds include natural death, vehicle strikes, killed by windows and communication towers strikes or die off from diseases. Most of the bird specimens from 18th century were hunted during activities such as sport hunting which nowadays is illegal in Kenya. Once brought in, the specimen goes through different steps before they are preserved. First, every specimen is identified by the scientists in the section and a tag is put around their leg with information such as where and when it was collected, by who and also the common name and the scientific name is written on the tag. After this the specimen is kept inside a freezer. This helps in killing external and internal insects and their eggs. Taxonomy is performed on every specimen by laboratory technicians with care not to damage the specimen. They are later preserved in three forms: Study skin, flat skin and mounted specimen. Flat skins and study skins are kept inside the cabinets which have drawers arranged according to families and species. These drawers have preservation chemicals including dichlorobenzene.

Class: Aves

1. Accipitriformes
   rank: order
2. Charadriiformes
   rank: order
3. Falconiformes
   rank: order
4. Strigiformes
   rank: order
5. Galliformes
   rank: order
6. Passeriformes
   rank: order
7. Accipitridae
   rank: family
8. Tytonidae
   rank: family
9. Strigidae
   rank: family
10. Pycnonotidae
    rank: family
11. Turdidae
    rank: family
12. Turnicidae
    rank: family
13. Falconidae
    rank: family
14. Numididae
    rank: family
15. Phasianidae
    rank: family

The specimens were collected from the Kenyan Coastal Forests which lies within the latitude of 1°40' to about 4°40' south. It covers six counties including Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Tana River.