First assessments of bird diversity in the mont korhogo classified forest, a site of importance for biodiversity conservation (korhogo, Côte d'Ivoire)

The Mont Korhogo classified forest, the only forest area located on the outskirts of the city of Korhogo, provides a refuge for wildlife directly threatened by the rapid expansion of the city and the conversion of natural areas into agricultural land. Despite this, there is no data on the animal biodiversity of this site. The bird community of this classified forest, the only protected forest area on the outskirts of the city, was studied for the first time from October 2023 to September 2024 in order to assess the role of the classified forest in the conservation and distribution of wild birds facing intense anthropization of the environment. The point abundance index method based on listening points was used. The results indicate that this community comprises 138 bird species divided into 50 families and ordered into 17 orders. The order Passeriformes (S = 68 species: 49.28%) and the families Accipitridae (S = 11 species; 7.97%) and Nectariniidae (S = 10 species; 7.25%) families were the best represented. Resident species (S = 106 species; 76.81%) and open habitat species (S = 93 species; 67.39%) were in the majority. Twenty-one species were ubiquitous. Three species dominated the population: Stretopelia vinacea (Fr = 6.34%), Euplectes franciscanus (Fr = 5.57%) and Lonchura cucullata (Fr = 8.36%). Among them, Lonchura cucullata was the most abundant species (N = 120 individuals). Preliminary inventories of birds in the Mont Korhogo classified forest revealed a dominance of open habitat species, indicating the existence of anthropogenic pressures that are undermining the ecological balance of this classified forest on the one hand, and on the other hand, the bioindication character of birds as a tool for assessing the conservation status of ecosystems.