Southern African Bird Occurrence and Abundance Data, 1976-2021

eBird sampling events for all bird species across southern Africa between 2000 and 2020, combined with occurrence and abundance records for the red-billed quelea (Quelea quelea) from 1976 to 2021. The data originates from multiple sources including citizen science platforms like GBIF and iNaturalist, as well as government control operations and independent research. Rachel Dobson from the University of Leeds compiled the data for a case study on dynamic species distribution modelling.

Use Cases

• Modeling dynamic species distributions based on multi-decadal occurrence records.
• Analyzing nomadic bird population trends using abundance data from pest control operations.
• Validating citizen science data quality by comparing eBird records with independent research sources.

Strengths

• Multi-decadal temporal coverage from 1976 to 2021 for the focal species.
• Data aggregated from diverse sources including citizen science, government records, and unpublished research.
• Geographic focus on southern Africa, a region with rich avian biodiversity.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), eBird, and sources listed in Table S1 (e.g., ICOSAMP, COPR, Botswana/Mozambique Ministries of Agriculture).

Collection Method

Aggregated from citizen science platforms, government pest control records, and independent research compilations.

Time Range

2000-2020 for all birds; 1976-2021 for red-billed quelea.

Geography

Southern Africa.