A Bird Atlas of Kenya

Raphaël Nussbaumer; Sidney Shema; Sikenykeny Kennedy; Colin Jackson

doi:10.15468/2ga3wk

A Bird Atlas of Kenya

Citation

Nussbaumer R, Shema S, Kennedy S, Jackson C (2022). A Bird Atlas of Kenya. Version 1.8. A Rocha Kenya. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/2ga3wk accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-12-03.

Description

This dataset contains the digitized bird atlas data from "A Bird Atlas of Kenya" (Lewis & Pomeroy, 1989) (https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315136264). It consists of the breeding code (presence, probable or confirmed) for all species on a quarter degree square map of Kenya for two periods: pre-atlas (up to 1970) and during the atlas (1970-1984).

The code used to generate this dataset is available at https://github.com/Rafnuss/Digitization-of-A-Bird-Atlas-of-Kenya. You can download this dataset as an excel format without all the DwC field at https://github.com/Rafnuss/Digitization-of-A-Bird-Atlas-of-Kenya/blob/main/data/A Bird Atlas of Kenya_v5.xlsx?raw=true

Purpose

Digitize the distribution maps of "A Bird Atlas of Kenya" (doi: 10.1201/9781315136264). As mentioned in the book, " The primary purpose of the Bird Atlas of Kenya is to document the distributions of birds in Kenya as thoroughly as practicable, particularly for the period 1970-1984"

Sampling Description

Study Extent

See Lewis & Pomeroy (1989) for information on the study extent of the original data. Here, we describe only the digitisation of the data. We follow as closely as possible the extent of the data provided in the book. (1) We report all species mentioned in the book and followed their taxonomy (even for species which have since been split or lumped). (2) We report the spatial information at the grid square level providing the original QDGC name (locality), the square as polygon (footprintWKT) and centre of the square (decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude). (3) We report the atlas code (presence, probable and confirmed) as given in the book at the square level. Note that we are not able to provide the atlas code for the pre-atlas period if the post-atlas period has a greater or equal atlas code (data not provided in the book).

Sampling

See Lewis & Pomeroy (1989) for information on sampling of the original data. See step description below for the digitisation of the data.

Quality Control

See Lewis & Pomeroy (1989) for information on the quality control of the original data. We describe here only the digitisation of the data. We considered the book as the reference, and thus manually checked that the digitised data matches the maps of the book. To perform this validation, we generated the same maps as the book based on the digitised data and visually compared them to the original map to check for discrepancy. In the absence of map in the book, we checked the square code provided in the book. Additionally, we used the gbif data-validator before the upload.

Method steps

The base spreadsheet was recovered by Colin Jackson and contains most of the data from the book with some modifications, losses and additions. The source of this document remains unknown.
We removed all data dating from after the atlas project.
We converted the data from a text description to a standardised column (date-atlas code).
We changed the species name to the name used in the book (both common and scientific names).
We added the data from the missing species (e.g., species without a map).
We reverted back any species split/lumped/removed since then.
Finally, we manually checked the data with the book (see quality control)
We exported the data in Darwin core standard with the code: https://github.com/Rafnuss/Digitization-of-A-Bird-Atlas-of-Kenya

Taxonomic Coverages

All 1065 bird species (aves sp.) recorded in Kenya by 1985. These comprise the 1053 mentioned by Britton (1980), 13 added since then (EABR; Scopus 9:53-54, 110-111) and one deleted (Parker, 1984). The book seems to follow the taxonomy adopted by Britton (1980). While the data preserves the original common and scientific names (as originalNameUsage), the scientificName uses the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Since the atlas has been published, several species have been changes: - 7. Broad-billed Prion (Pachyptila vittata) Reindentified (Fanshawe et al., 1992) - 13. Matsudaira's Storm Petrel (Oceanodroma matsudairae) Uncertain (Hunter, 2019) (Taylor, 1982) - 14. Red-tailed Tropicbird (Phaeton rubricauda) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 63. Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 144. Barbary Falcon (Falco pelegrinoides) Lumped with 143. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) - 178. Kenya Crested Guineafowl (Guttera pucherani) Lumped with 179. Crested Guineafowl (Guttera pucherani) - 253. Asiatic Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 286. Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 293. Mediterranean Gull (Larus melanocephalus) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 294. Little Gull (Larus minutus) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 299. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) Reidentified as 298. Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) - 338. Black-billed Wood Dove (Turtur abyssinicus) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 476. Pale-billed Hornbill (Tockus pallidirostris) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 498. Usambiro Barbet (Trachyphonus usambiro) Lumped with 497. D'Arnaud's Barbet (Trachyphonus darnaudii) - 506. Kilimanjaro Honeyguide (Indicator narokensis) Lumped with 505. Pallid honeyguide (Indicator meliphilus) - 537. Spike-heeled Lark (Chersomanes albofasciata) Uncertain (Turner, 1985) - 664. Forest Robin (Stiphrornis erythrothorax) Rejected - 894. Ashy Starling (Cosmopsarus unicolor) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 935. Blue-throated Brown Sunbird (Nectarinia cyanolaema) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 1006. Chestnut-breasted Negrofinch (Nigrita bicolor) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - 1026. Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus angolensis) Rejected (Fisher & Hunter, 2016) - . Taita Thrush (Turdus (olivaceus) helleri) - . Shoebill (Balaeniceps rex)

Aves sp.
common name: Bird rank: class

Geographic Coverages

Covering all of the Republic of Kenya, using quarter square degree (QSD) (Larsen et al. 2009). On this geographic system, Kenya covers 228 squares.

Bibliographic Citations

Lewis, Adrian, and Derek Pomeroy. 1989. A Bird Atlas of Kenya. edited by A. A. Balkema. Rotterdam: CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/9781315136264. - https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315136264
Britton, P. L. 1980. Birds of East Africa: Their Habitat, Status and Distribution. Nairobi: East Africa Natural History Society. -
Larsen, R., T. Holmern, S. D. Prager, H. Maliti, and E. Røskaft. 2009. “Using the Extended Quarter Degree Grid Cell System to Unify Mapping and Sharing of Biodiversity Data.” African Journal of Ecology 47(3):382–92. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2008.00997.x. - 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2008.00997.x
Fisher, David, and Nigel Hunter. 2016. East African Rarities Committee (EARC) Special Report Species included for East African countries in Britton (1980) which have since been considered unacceptable. Scopus. 36.2: 55-64. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/scopus/article/view/139746 -
Fanshawe, J.H., Prince, P. and Irwin, M. 1992. Black-bellied Storm Petrel Fregetta tropica, Antarctic Prion Pachyptila desolata, and Thin-billed Prion P. belcheri: three species new to Kenya and East Africa. Scopus. 15: 102–108. -
Hunter, N. 2019. Checklist of the Birds of Kenya 5th Edition. ISBN: 9966-761-37-3 -
Turner, D.A. 1985. On the claimed occurrence of the Spike-heeled Lark Chersomanes albofasciata in Kenya. Scopus. 9: 142 -
Taylor, P.B. 1982. Storm-petrels off the Kenya coast. Scopus. 6: 15-16 -

Contacts

Raphaël Nussbaumer
originator
position: Research Associate
A Rocha Kenya
email: raphael.nussbaumer@arocha.org
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8185-1020

Sidney Shema
originator
position: Project Coordinator
Kenya Bird Map
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1395-4957

Sikenykeny Kennedy
originator
position: Data Manager
Kenya Bird Map

Colin Jackson
originator
position: Director
A Rocha Kenya
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2280-1397

Raphaël Nussbaumer
metadata author
position: Research Associate
A Rocha Kenya
KE
email: raphael.nussbaumer@arocha.org
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8185-1020

Raphaël Nussbaumer
administrative point of contact
position: Research Associate
A Rocha Kenya
KE
email: raphael.nussbaumer@arocha.org
userId: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8185-1020