The avifaunas of the Northern Sperrgebiet are among the richest and the most diversified known from the Early Miocene of Africa. They include Struthio coppensi, a small ostrich which is the earliest known representative of the genus Struthio, the skeletal remains of which are associated with aepyornithoid type eggshells. They also include representatives of extinct genera, which were widespread in other parts of the world, such as Megapaloelodus, Mionetta or Palaeortyx. The majority of these forms are waterbirds. Although the sediments have been carefully washed and sorted, the only small avian fossil is a fragment of tarsometatarsus of a Coliidae. No passeriform remains has been recovered, as was also the case for the more recent Middle Miocene locality of Arrisdrift in Namibia.