G.P Massawe - Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Njiro Wildlife Research Centre, Arusha, Tanzania

Urban development is rapidly expanding across the globe and is a major driver of environmental change. It is important to understand how bird species responds to urbanization. Therefore I conducted a qualitative study of birds associated with waste sites such as dumpsite and sewage stabilization ponds was carried out on Moshi municipal. The study assessed the diversity between dumpsite and sewage stabilization ponds using the Timed species count method. A total of 15 bird families and 17 species were recorded at both sites. 13 species in 12 bird families at dumpsite and 14 species in 13 bird families at sewage stabilization pond were recorded respectively. There was significant difference in species diversity within the two sites (p<0.05) because of good breeding sites at sewage stabilization ponds which include a wide variety of resources, high productivity and moderate levels of disturbance compared to dumpsite. This study was carried out to enhance conservation awareness. These site serve as biodiversity reservoirs, urban planners should involve interdisciplinary team to make decisions from an ecological perspective when designing urban areas. From this microsurvey It is worth concluding that waste stabilization ponds contains number of resource that attracts bird’s species, as birds are bio indicators of ecosystem health.

Dumpsites; Diversity; Sewage stabilization pond; Time species count (TSC); Waste area