Data Zone
Country/territory: Nigeria
IBA criteria met: A3, A4ii (2001)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 73,000 ha
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2019 | very unfavourable | high | low |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
The site comprises a stretch of the middle Niger river and associated flood-plains, together with the lower reaches of the Kaduna river below the Wuya bridge near Bida. The rivers are characterized by broad channels with numerous sandbanks which become small islands during the dry season when the river levels drop. Extensive low-lying areas of fadama beside the rivers become flooded during the wet season. These and the adjoining savanna woodlands are intensively farmed, resulting in fragmentation and degradation of both the Mitragyna swamp-forests along the banks of the rivers and the surrounding savanna woodlands. Trees found in remnant forest patches include Uapaca togoensis, Berlinia, Pterocarpus and Terminalia spp. Elaeis guineensis, Diospyros mespiliformis and Napoleona sp. also grow in these riparian forests. Where undisturbed by farming, the woodlands are typical of the southern Guinea Savanna, with characteristic trees such as Vitellaria paradoxa, Daniellia oliveri and Parkia biglobosa.
Key biodiversity
See Box and Table 3 for key species. The site is an important breeding area for Merops malimbicus with colonies of over 15,000 birds, seen in 1989 and 1996, near Tamaworo on the lower Kaduna river. Other nationally uncommon birds include Ciconia episcopus, Pteronetta hartlaubii and Nettapus auritus. Over 100 Pluvianus aegyptius and more than 150 Glareola cinerea have been counted. Glareola cinerea breeds, as does Sterna albifrons, while several Merops nubicus colonies occur in the eroded riverbanks. Indicator indicator, brood-parasites of the bee-eaters, are common visitors to the M. malimbicus colonies. In addition, four species of the Guinea–Congo Forests biome (A05) have also been recorded; see Table 3.
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Lower Kaduna - Middle Niger flood-plain (Nigeria). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/lower-kaduna--middle-niger-flood-plain-iba-nigeria on 25/11/2024.