The Kavirondo Escarpment: a previously unrecognized site of high conservation value in Western Kenya

Abstract

In western Kenya, extant woodland habitats and their representative bird species are increasingly scarce outside of protected areas. With the assistance of satellite imagery we located several minimally impacted ecosystems on the Kavirondo Escarpment (0°1.7’ S, 34°56.5’ E), which we then visited to examine the vegetation communities and investigate the avifauna. Despite only a limited effort there, we report several new atlas square occurrences, presence of the local and poorly known Rock Cisticola Cisticola emini and a significant range extension for the Stone Partridge Ptilopachus petrosus. Our short visits indicate high avian species richness is associated with the escarpment and we suggest comprehensive biodiversity surveys here are warranted.