Data Zone
Country/territory: Kenya
IBA criteria met: A4i (1999)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 20 hectares (0.20 km2)
| IBA conservation status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year of assessment (most recent) | State (condition) | Pressure (threat) | Response (action) |
| 2023 | poor | very high | low |
| For more information about IBA monitoring, please click here | |||
Site description (2001 baseline)
This area comprises the sandbanks, mudbanks, dunes and freshwater pools and marshes at the mouth of the Sabaki, Kenya’s second-longest river, c.5 km north of Malindi town, between the Malindi–Mambrui road bridge and the sea. The state and size of the estuary vary seasonally, depending on river flows. Just north and south of the river mouth are grassy dunes that conceal permanent or temporary pools of freshwater.
Key biodiversity
See Box for key species. This site hosts large visiting flocks of Glareola ocularis (regularly up to 2,500, with a maximum of 9,000–10,000 in 1978), and is an important resting, roosting and feeding ground for gulls and terns. Good numbers of Palearctic shorebirds also occur, and Limicola falcinellus, a very uncommon bird in Kenya, winters here in flocks of up to 80. The Near Threatened, restricted-range Anthus melindae is resident in and around the grassy dunes. Regionally threatened species include Casmerodius albus (usually present in small numbers) and Rynchops flavirostris (a regular visitor, mainly August–March).
Non-bird biodiversity: None known to BirdLife International.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Sabaki River Mouth (Kenya). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/sabaki-river-mouth-iba-kenya on 23/12/2024.