Les migrateurs paléarctiques au Sénégal. II. Passereaux et synthèse générale

Abstract

This article reports the results of several years of faunistic and ecological research on palearctic migratory birds in Senegal. Most of the data was collected in the north portion of the country in full Sahelian zone. The major environments studied are described and the representative migratory elements of their avifauna indicated. Each species is then considered separately under several aspects : systematic, dates of presence, habitat, relative abundance and diet when known. The banding information has been included. The number of palearctic species «wintering» in Senegal is considerable : 150, or over a third of the total known avifauna of the region. It appears from this fact, that wintering in West Africa is qualitatively comparable to what it is in East Africa, regarded till now as a privileged zone. Several unknown or rarely mentionned species of tropical Western Africa have been observed and collected. Among them : Porzana porzana, P. pusilla, P. parva, Burhinus oedicnemus, Larus audouinii, Otus scops, Caprimulgus ruficollis, Locust ella tusci-nioides, L. naevia, Acrocephalus schenobaenus, Luscinia svecica, Emberiza hortulana. Emphasis is placed on the particularly abundant species : Ciconia ciconia, Anas querquedula, Milvus m. migrans, Philomachus pugnax, Limosa limosa, Streptopelia turtur, Motacilla flava, etc., as well as those with a still ambiguous status : Ixobrychus m, minutas, Plegadis falcinellus, Gallinula chl. chloropus, Glareola pratincola, Clamator glandarius, etc. During their migrations, while some species only rapidly cross the region studied : Cuculus canorus, Apus apus, Merops apiaster, Sylvia borin, Phylloscopus trochilus, Muscicapa striata, Ficedula hypoleuca, Saxicola rubetra, etc., others are absent only during a period equal to or under two months, Tringa ssp, Philomachus pugnax, Lanius senator, etc., ; others finally leave representatives all year round : Limosa limosa, Himantopus himantopus, Hippolais pallida, for exemple. Banding results and morphological examination tend to show that most of the migrants come from northern and western Europe. However the contribution of palearctic Africa is not to be underrated : Falco biarmicus erlangeri, Buteo rufinus cirtensis, Capri-mulgus aegyptus saharae, Oenanthe oe. seebohmi, etc. Some species originate from eastern Europe or Asia : Circus macrourus, Tringa stagnatilis, Oenanthe isabellina, and others come from Greenland : Charadrius h. hiaticula, Oenanthe oe. leucorhoa. Local banding revealed, on the other hand, that some species regularly return to the same wintering sites. This is the case for Motacilla alba, Hippolais pallida, Sylvia cantillans, Phylloscopus collybita and Phoenicurus phoenicurus.