ANTHROPOGENIC AND VEGETATION FACTORS SHAPE RED-CHEEKED CORDON-BLEU ABUNDANCE IN A NIGERIAN SAVANNA LANDSCAPE
Understanding how anthropogenic disturbance and vegetation structure influence bird abundance is important for biodiversity conservation in rapidly changing tropical landscapes. This study evaluated the effects of anthropogenic and vegetation-related variables on the abundance of the Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus bengalus) in human settlements and surrounding farmlands in Laminga Village, Jos-East Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. Bird surveys were conducted using line transects and quadrat-based vegetation assessments during November 2024. Poisson Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) were used to examine the influence of anthropogenic and vegetation predictors on abundance. Among anthropogenic variables, building density significantly reduced abundance ({beta} = -0.141, SE = 0.060, z = -2.333, p = 0.020), whereas human presence ({beta} = -0.073, p = 0.141) and noise level ({beta} = 0.009, p = 0.592) did not significantly influence abundance. Average grass height showed a marginal positive relationship with abundance ({beta} = 2.008, SE = 1.051, z = 1.910, p = 0.056), while hedgerow presence, hedgerow height, grass cover, and bare ground cover were not significant predictors. The vegetation model produced the lowest residual deviance (91.19) and AIC value (297.66), indicating comparatively stronger explanatory performance. The results suggest that structural habitat characteristics and building density may play more important roles in shaping Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu abundance than human activity or noise levels alone. These findings provide insight into species responses to environmental disturbance in human-modified savanna ecosystems.