Current view: Text account
Site description (2005 baseline):
Site location and context
The area is about 20km south of Sinda and it contains an unusually high density of granite inselbergs. These range from small kopjes to vast whaleback domes. much of the surounding area is degraded woodland and farmland supporting a relatively high human population. there are small patches of undisturbed habitat, particularly on and around the hills. at the eastern end is Nyanje Mission but the site is not yet well defined and further work is required to determine a practicable boundary. The site could possibly encompass Mchembwe (No 1180 and Chilowe (No 1190 local forests.
The site is most important for the localized and specialized Boulder Chat which can be found in the thickets at the bases of the hills. Other species characteristic of these kopjes include Black stork,Augur Buzzard, Black eagle,lanner Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Freckled Rock Nightjar, african Black Swift, African Rock Martin, striped Pipit, Familiar Chat, Mocking Chat, Rock loving Cisticola, white-necked raven, Red-winged Starling and Cinnamon-breasted Rock bunting is extremely localised in Zambia and its status is uncertain, but ther are several records from this area. a number of zambezian endemics and near endemics occur in miombo including racket-tailed Roller, pale-billed Hornbill, miombo Rock thrush, Red-capped crombec, Rufous bellied Tit, miombo Double- collared Sunbird. the somewhat localised Red-winged Warbler has been found in areas of long grass with scrub and thicket.
Non-bird biodiversity: poorly known. the rock hyrax is not uncommon aand this is the only site from which it is currently known in Zambia. klipspringer is occasionally recorded.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Nyanje Hills (Zambia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/nyanje-hills-iba-zambia on 23/11/2024.
