Location Gambia Established 1993 | Area 612 hectares | |
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Tanji Bird Reserve is a bird reserve in the Gambia. Established in 1993 it covers an area of 612 hectares. It is also known as Karinti or Tanji River Reserve or National Park.
Contents
Location
The Tanji Bird Reserve lies 3 km to the north of the fishing village of Tanji and includes the Karinti River. The protected reserve, which incorporates an area of the Bald Cape and the Bijol Islands (Kajonyi Islands), is located 1.5 km from the Atlantic Ocean coastline. The Bijol Islands are The Gambia's only offshore islands. The Bijol Island consist of two islands which are joined together at low tide.
Habitat
The Tanji Bird Reserve incorporates mangrove, dry woodland and coastal dune scrub woodland. Along the coastal part there is a series of lagoons, and off shore Bijol islands which are important sites for breeding marine turtles and for roosting birds.
Birdlife
The Tanji Bird Reserve has had around 300 species of birds recorded within it, including 82 species of Palearctic migrants. The reserve has been declared as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International. Species seen regularly on the reserve's lagoons include Black-headed heron, white-fronted plover, Caspian tern, spur-winged plover, sanderling, Western reef heron, royal tern and lesser black-backed gull. While the Bijol Islands are an important feeding and roosting area for substantial numbers of shorebirds, seabirds, ospreys, and other birds, including Gambia's only breeding seabirds, including colonies of grey-headed gulls, slender-billed gulls, royal terns, Caspian terns, long-tailed cormorants and Western reef herons.