The Upper Niger valley in south-west Mali has been identified as a Secondary Area on account of the endemic Mali Firefinch Lagonosticta virata, which is found in dry grassland and thickets (Hall and Moreau 1970, Sibley and Monroe 1990), although there is a record of this species from outside the Niger watershed in eastern Senegal (Payne 1997). This section of the Niger valley is an important wetland which faces a number of pressures (Hughes and Hughes 1992), but the habitats of the Mali Firefinch are probably not threatened. There are no protected areas in this part of Mali (IUCN 1992b).

Stattersfield, A. J., Crosby, M. J., Long, A. J. and Wege, D. C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World. Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife Conservation Series 7. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Upper Niger valley. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/339 on 27/12/2024.