A Survey of the Wild Avi-Fauna within Makurdi Metropolis of Benue State, Nigeria

A survey of the wild Avi-fauna within Makurdi Metropolis was undertaken during the dry and rainy seasons of 2007-2008. The method adopted in data collection was total count of birds and trees in ten (10) selected streets in the six built-up areas of the town. A total of 2,192 birds belonging to 18 species were identified during the dry season, while 745 birds belonging to 29 different species were counted during the wet season. Six species were permanent resident, found both during the wet and dry seasons, 12 species occurred only during the dry season while 23 species were found only during the wet season. Bird population does not correlate(r = 0.005) with either tree density or diversity. Birds were found to utilize habitats such as roof tops, electric poles and wire, and television antenna. The study concludes that wild birds still migrate in and out of the town in spite of urbanization and that urbanization may indeed have provided favourable sites for some bird species.