English

Abstract

  Lake Ol’Bolossat, Kenya is an attractive natural tourist site. The only lake in the Central Province is of great aesthetic value and particularly an important site for avian diversity. Being a wetland, it contains diverse biologically and economically important raw materials. The wetland is targeted for conversion to agricultural purposes and as a result is faced with degradation. The study established the habitat use and activity budget for red knobbed coots (Fulicata cristata), Egyptian geese (Alopochen aegyptica), Yellow-billed ducks (Anas undulata) and Glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus).  Habitat use was established based on the number of birds of each species in each habitat type.  For all the species, the marshland was occupied by significantly more birds than all other habitats, Red Knobbed coot (p = 0.07), Egyptian geese (p = 0.061) Yellow billed duck (p = 0.455) and Glossy ibis (p = 0.752). The marshland was the most preferred habitat type by all the birds. The activity budgets for the birds were obtained using the scan sampling method. Among all the birds, feeding was allocated significantly more time; Red Knobbed coot (p = 0.056), Egyptian geese (p = 0.11) Yellow billed duck (p = 0.09) and Glossy ibis (p = 0.023). The small birds spent more time feeding than bigger birds.   Key words: Wetlands, tourism, biodiversity, birds.