Wintering waterbird assemblages in the central part of the Gulf of Gabès in southern Tunisia

Although the Gulf of Gabès is recognised as an Important Bird Area, several aspects of the ecology of waterbirds inhabiting this area still need to be investigated. We observed how waterbird foraging guilds varied among habitats. In total, 49 species belonging to 16 families were recorded. Winter visitors accounted for 73% of counts. The avifauna was dominated by shorebirds (52% of records), followed by large wading birds (25%), open-water birds (18%) and waterfowl (5%). However, the structure of local waterbird communities and their composition in terms of foraging guilds varied according to habitat type. The bird communities of sandy beaches were dominated by open-water birds, whereas large mudflats were dominated by shorebirds, and wadi estuaries showed a more even representation of foraging guilds. Locally rare species had narrow distributions, whereas locally abundant species were found widely within the gulf. For four species the 1% population level criterion of the Ramsar Convention was exceeded. Overall, our results show that the Gulf of Gabès hosts important numbers of waterbirds with different ecological requirements, which confirms the importance of this gulf as a wintering area for Palearctic waterbirds.