Trends in the use of a small coastal lagoon by waterbirds: Muni Lagoon (Ghana)

This paper presents data from a twelve-year (1986-98) monitoring of waterbi rd populations at Muni Lagoon, and discusses the ornithological importance of the lagoon and trends in the use of the site by waterbirds. The small br ackish lagoon forms part of the Muni-Pomadze Ramsar site situated on the Gh ana coast. A total of 48 species of waterbirds were recorded at the site co mprising of 29 species of waders, eight species of terns, two species of gu lls, seven species of herons and egrets, one species each of duck and cormo rant. The most abundant waterbirds species recorded on the site were the Cu rlew Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Common Tern, Black Tern, Royal Tern and the Sandwich Tern. Three species of waders, Bla ck-winged Stilt, Pratincole and Little Tern were observed to breed at the s ite. The highest numbers of waterbirds occurred on the site in the period S eptember to March. The site remains an internationally important wetland si te by virtue of supporting internationally important numbers of four specie s of terns: Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern and Black Tern. The valu e of Muni lies more in its use as a feeding/staging site for migrating wade rs that spend the non-breeding season in Ghana or pass through to winter fu rther south, and as a roosting site for terns which feed mainly at sea. The use of the site by waterbirds has increased by some 400% between 1986 and 1998. This is attributed to improved prey availability resulting from the o pening of the lagoon into the sea during the 1994 floods, and reduced distu rbance of feeding and roosting birds. This would imply that the value of th e site as waterbird habitat could improve considerably with appropriate hab itat management interventions and continued protection.