Jones K. Quartey^{1, 2}, Alfred A. Nuoh¹, Emanuel N. A Taye ¹ and Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu ^{1, 2}

¹Centre for African Wetlands, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 67, Legon, Accra
²Department of Animal Biology and Conservation Science, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 67, Legon, Accra.
 

Global populations of several species of shorebirds are under serious threat, with 48% of the known 207 populations in decline. The presence, absence and population dynamics of waterbirds help to explain the state or the ecological character of the environments within which they live. Habitat and climatic changes have been implicated to be the major extrinsic factors defining changes in waterbird populations. The Ghana coast supports several species of migratory birds during the non-breeding season as well as resident species. This study looks at the population dynamics of the black-winged stilt Himantopus himantopus, on 13 coastal sites monitored over a period of three decades. Trend analysis using the TRIM statistical software generated an overall slope model describing a moderately increasing population (p < 0.01). The two lagoons associated with the Volta River (the Songhor and Keta lagoons) accounted for more than 75% of the total counts. These two sites have been observed to complement each other in supporting populations of waterbirds during extreme environmental stress. For example the decline in numbers of the species in the late 1990s from 17,000 to 1,032 at Keta Ramsar site was accompanied by an increase from 660 to 11,550 individuals at Songhor Ramsar site in the early 2000s. We observed that the variations in populations of black-winged stilt on the Ghana coast is influenced by climatic factors (rainfall), habitat changes and breeding success.
 

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