email a friend
printable version
SO015
Jowhar - Warshiikh
Location Somalia, Shabeellaha Dhexe
Central coordinates 45o 47.00' East  2o 32.00' North
IBA criteria A1, A2, A3
Area 220,000 ha
Altitude 0 - 200m
Year of IBA assessment 2001





Ornithological information See Box and Tables 2 and 3 for key species. In addition to those listed below, Circus macrourus has been recorded from this site. The site includes the type-locality of Mirafra ashi, the only place from which it is known. Of the other Somali–Masai biome species recorded, Mirafra hypermetra, M. poecilosterna, Cisticola cinereolus and Anthoscopus musculus have been recorded from few other IBAs in Somalia.

Site description Jowhar–Warshiikh (Warshek) lies on the southern coast of Somalia, to the north of Muqdisho and immediately south-east of Xawaadley reservoir (site SO014). The site includes areas of sand-dunes close to the sea and rolling plains inland, with patches of low, often heavily grazed, halophytic scrub and herbaceous growth. Vegetation on the large coastal dunes includes areas of deciduous woodland.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Species Season Period Population estimate Quality of estimate IBA Criteria IUCN Category
Vulturine Guineafowl Acryllium vulturinum resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Yellow-necked Spurfowl Francolinus leucoscepus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Eastern Chanting-goshawk Melierax poliopterus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Heuglin's Bustard Neotis heuglinii resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Buff-crested Bustard Eupodotis gindiana resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Black-faced Sandgrouse Pterocles decoratus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Red-bellied Parrot Poicephalus rufiventris resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
White-bellied Go-away-bird Corythaixoides leucogaster resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Donaldson-Smith's Nightjar Caprimulgus donaldsoni resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Forbes-Watson's Swift Apus berliozi resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
White-headed Mousebird Colius leucocephalus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Mangrove Kingfisher Halcyon senegaloides resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Von der Decken's Hornbill Tockus deckeni resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Black-throated Barbet Tricholaema melanocephala resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
D'Arnaud's Barbet Trachyphonus darnaudii resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Rosy-patched Bush-shrike Rhodophoneus cruentus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Three-streaked Tchagra Tchagra jamesi resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Red-naped Bush-shrike Laniarius ruficeps resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Long-tailed Fiscal Lanius cabanisi resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Taita Fiscal Lanius dorsalis resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Somali Fiscal Lanius somalicus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Mouse-coloured Penduline-tit Anthoscopus musculus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Red-winged Lark Mirafra hypermetra resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Somali Lark Mirafra somalica resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Ash's Lark Mirafra ashi resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A1, A2, A3  Endangered 
Pink-breasted Lark Mirafra poecilosterna resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Obbia Lark Spizocorys obbiensis resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A1, A2, A3  Data Deficient 
Chestnut-headed Sparrow-lark Eremopterix signatus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Ashy Cisticola Cisticola cinereolus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Pale Prinia Prinia somalica resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Grey Wren-warbler Camaroptera simplex resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Scaly Chatterer Turdoides aylmeri resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Rufous Chatterer Turdoides rubiginosa resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Scaly Babbler Turdoides squamulata resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
White-breasted White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Golden-breasted Starling Cosmopsarus regius resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Fischer's Starling Spreo fischeri resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Magpie Starling Speculipastor bicolor resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Kenya Violet-backed Sunbird Anthreptes orientalis resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Hunter's Sunbird Nectarinia hunteri resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Violet-breasted Sunbird Nectarinia chalcomelas resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Somali Sparrow Passer castanopterus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Parrot-billed Sparrow Passer gongonensis resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
White-headed Buffalo-weaver Dinemellia dinemelli resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Golden Palm Weaver Ploceus bojeri resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Salvadori's Weaver Ploceus dichrocephalus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A2, A3  Least Concern 
Fire-fronted Bishop Euplectes diadematus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Steel-blue Whydah Vidua hypocherina resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Straw-tailed Whydah Vidua fischeri resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Golden Pipit Tmetothylacus tenellus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Pangani Longclaw Macronyx aurantiigula resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Malindi Pipit Anthus melindae resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A1, A3  Near Threatened 
White-bellied Canary Serinus dorsostriatus resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 
Somali Golden-breasted Bunting Emberiza poliopleura resident  1997  present [units unknown]  -  A3  Least Concern 

Land use

Land-use Extent (% of site)
agriculture -

Other biodiversity Mammals of conservation concern that occur, or which used to do so, include Chlorotalpa tytonis (CR), Gazella soemmerringii (VU), G. spekei (VU), Tragelaphus imberbis (LR/cd), Madoqua piacentinii (VU) and Litocranius walleri (LR/cd).

Management considerations The area has been proposed as a National Park. Urban sprawl from Moqdisho, including the construction of an airport on the coastal strip in 1991, increasingly threatens this site. It is heavily grazed and there is a risk that overgrazing of vegetation on the dunes may lead to their destabilization. Other threats include hunting.

Further web sources of information 

Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) species/site profile. This site has been identified as an AZE due to it containing a Critically Endangered or Endangered species with a limited range.

Click here for more information about the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE)

Contribute  Please click here to help BirdLife conserve the world's birds - your data for this IBA and others are vital for helping protect the environment.

Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Jowhar - Warshiikh. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 25/05/2013

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife