African Bird Club | Publications

ABC Bulletin is produced twice yearly in March and August and is sent to all members and corporate sponsors. Content is very varied but always includes a round-up of the latest birding and conservation news from Africa, recent sightings as well as major feature articles on birding, identification, conservation, research and guides to top birding sites in Africa.

Some of the feature articles from past bulletins may be found here and copies may be ordered by visiting the Online shop

Click on each image for a full contents list.

If you wish to submit an article for publication, the guidelines for contributors can be found here.

Vol 1.1. March 1994. Ground Hornbills - Mount Kupe and its birds - Shoebills - Finding new bird species - Rediscovery of Monteiro's Bush-Shrike - Congo Peacock - Field identification of the bulbuls of Upper Guinea (part 1) - African birding
Vol 1.2. August 1994. African Fishing Owls & Rufous Fishing Owl - Using sonograms - Schlegel's Asity - White-throated Needletail - Birding Arabuko-Sokoke Forest & Kenya's coast - Field id of the bulbuls of Upper Guinea (part 2) - Observations from São Tomé and Príncipe

Vol 2.1. March 1995. Western Tylas Vanga - Korhaan id - Rockfowl - Honeyguides - East Usambaras - Little Blue Heron - Congo Peacock and Shoebill - The Tagdilt track, Morocco: a site guide- New Scops Owl - Seawatching in Senegal -

Vol 2.2. August 1995. Id of Little & Saunders's Tern - Nightjars id - Madagascar Teal - Black-cheeked Lovebird - Solitary Sandpiper in Zambia - Cinnamon Bittern - Birdwatching in Malawi - Ground-rollers of Madagascar - Sharpe's Longclaw - War and conservation

Vol. 3.1. March 1996. Indigobird id - Illadopsis id - Oxpeckers - White-winged Flufftail - new Scops owl - Nahan's Francolin - Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird id- Ethiopian endemics - Collared Nightjar - Seychelles Bird Report - Birding in Kieni Forest -

Vol 3.2. August 1996. Seychelles Magpie Robin - Degodi Lark - Meller's Duck - Discoveries in Northern Tanzania - African black tits - Birding Ghana - Namibia's Caprivi Strip - In search of the Badanga - Semipalmated Sandpiper in Mauritania - Vermiculated Fishing-Owl

Vol 4.1. March 1997. Whydah & cuckoo finch id - Prince Ruspoli's Turaco - Crested Honey Buzzard new to African continent - Congo Bay Owl rediscovery - Sunbird asities of Madagascar - Okapi Wildlife Reserve, Zaire - Comoros birding - Semipalmated Sandpiper and Spotted Sandpiper in Morocco

Vol 4.2.August 1997. African Accipiter id - Swynnerton's Robin - Nahan's Francolin - African atlases - Mount Elgon NP - QENP Bird observatory - Priogogine's Greenbul - Usambara Mountains - Mascarene Paradise Flycatcher - Friedmann's Lark - Pel's Fishing Owl in the Togo-Bénin Gap - Sun Lark

Vol 5.1. March 1998. Avifauna of the Usambara lowlands - Socotra - Senegal seabirds - Red-shouldered Vanga - Mayotte Scops Owl - Brown Nightjar - Zombitse-Vohibasia: a new national park in south-west Madagascar - Mystery birds from Djibouti - Tanji Bird Reserve, The Gambia - Somali Starling in south-central Ethiopia - European Bee-eater in Madagascar - Yellow-breasted Apalis: a new bird for Mali
Vol 5.2. August 1998. Birds of Mount Cameroun - Green-breasted & Monteiro's Bush-shrike - The African pipit enigma - Black Parrot in western Madagascar - Id of six Madagascan raptors - Ovambo Sparrowhawk from Ivory Coast - Echo Parakeet in Mauritius - Verreaux's Eagle Owl in Bénin - Ayres' Hawk-Eagle in The Gambia - Citrine Wagtail in Ethiopia - Collared Nightjar - Blue pigeons

Vol 6.1. March 1999. Dry season refuges for African birds - African Zoothera thrushes: taxonomy and identification - Murphy's Petrel at St Helena - Birding in Comoré NP Ivory Coast - The birds of Aldabra - Red-necked Nightjars in the Gambia: lessons learnt from roadkills - more Nahan's Francolin - Two new birds for Zambia - Oxpeckers - Gonoleks - Nouvelle espece de petit-duc - Personality
Vol 6.2. August 1999. St Helena Wirebird - Cape Verde Cane Warbler - Golden-tailed Woodpecker in Ivory Coast - Raso Lark - Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill in Bénin - The Kilum-Ijim Forest Project - Ayres' Hawk-Eagle in Cameroon - Dams, new habitat in W. Africa - Birding the Cape to the Kalahari - Ankober Serin - Baumann's Greenbul - The birds of Namuli, northern Mozambique - Greater Spotted Eagle

Vol 7.1. March 2000. Beaudouin's Snake Eagle id - Rare birds in Morocco - Mauritius Cuckoo-Shrike - Azores Bullfinch - Palearctic migrant fall in Aldabra - Conkouati Reserve DRC - African birds in traditional magico-medicinal use - Little Crake in The Gambia - New rock thrush from Madagascar? - Slender-billed Gull in Uganda - Unidentified green turaco in Ethiopia - Bald Ibis reintroductions - Forest fragmentation, birds and seeds - Helmet Vanga photos

Vol 7.2. August 2000. Records from Gambela, western Ethiopia - Peregrine and Barbary falcon taxonomy in Morocco - Fishing owls at Agenebode, Nigeria - Lesser Flamingo possibly breeding in Mauritania - Banded Kestrel behaviour in western Madagascar - The sad story of Alaotra Grebe - Identifying glossy starlings in the field - Kakamega Forest: a living classroom for the growing generation - Range extension of African Broadbill

Vol 8.1. March 2001. Pelagic seabirding off Cape Town - Hume's Tawny Owl in Egypt - A new site for Newton's Fiscal in Sao Tome - Second Seychelles rarity report - Magic, myth and misunderstanding: cultural responses to owls in Africa - The birds of Bijol Island, The Gambia - Senegal ringing recoveries - 1st sub-Saharan Spotted Sandpiper in Kenya - 1st Spotted Sandpiper for Cameroon - Firsts for Seychelles - Annobon Island - Loango Slender-billed Weaver
Vol 8.2. August 2001. Forest loss in the Ulugurus - Uluguru Bush Shrike - Long-billed Tailorbird - Notes from Eritrea - Seabirds of Morocco - Observations from The Gambia, 1997-1999 - Range shifts in Cote d'Ivoire - Lake Chad Bird Migration Project - Satellite tracking of White Stork - African Penguin & the Treasure oil spill - Leach's Storm-Petrel breeding in South Africa - Black-backed Cisticola in Tanzania - Isabelline Wheatear in Morocco - Cassin's Hawk-Eagle in Kenya

Vol 9.1. March 2002. Bird tracks in Madagascar's spiny forest - Birds of Rodrigues - White-winged Black at Lake Victoria - Cape Parrot in South Africa - Birds of Aldabra - Chatham Albatross: new to Africa - Red-footed Falcon in The Gambia - Lake Naivasha nest-box project - New birds for Nigeria - Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS) - List of Bird Recorders and Checklist Compilers - A new ornithological institute in Nigeria - Rodrigues Warbler
Vol 9.2. August 2002. Mount Kupé Bush-Shrike - Mauritius Fody - Birds of the Hwimo area, Nigeria - Plain Swift - Afrotropical Sylvia Warblers- Rare birds in Morocco - Bronze-winged Courser in Senegambia - Temminck's Horned Lark: a new species for The Gambia - Forbes' Plover in The Gambia - Red-necked Nightjar, new to Burkina Faso - Ansorge's Greenbul, new to Uganda - Birds of a Grumeti River forest in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Vol 10.1. March 2003. Birds of the Niaouli forest, southern Benin - New records of the São Tomé Grosbeak - Dja River Warbler - Waterbird monitoring in Djibouti - Food of the Grey Parrot in Korup NP - Jizz of doves in the Sahel, - Three new species for Seychelles - Parasitic Weaver, new to Benin - Little Rush Warbler, new to Togo - Black Coucal in Senegambia - Highland grassland endemics in Mau Narok/Molo IBA, Kenya

Vol 10.2. August 2003. São Tomé & Príncipe birds - Systematics, distribution and vocalisations of Papyrus Yellow Warbler - Mauritius Olive White-eye - Augur Buzzard in Zimbabwe - Birding Cameroon, part 1 Guinea Woodlands to Sahel - Ethiopian race of the African Goshawk - Great Knot: new for sub-Saharan Africa - First records: Benin - Golden Nightjar in Cameroon - Sharpe's Starling in Zambia - Pallid Harrier in Seychelles - Verreaux's Eagle nesting on the ground

Vol 11.1. March 2004. First photos of Sakalava Rail - Confusing antpeckers - Status of Short-toed Eagle and Beaudouin 's Snake Eagle in The Gambia - New records of Ortolan Bunting in Nigeria - First Sociable Lapwing for Cameroon and western Africa - Fischer's Turaco in Zanzibar - Behaviour of the Madagascar Flufftail - African Spoonbill breeding in Bahi Swamp, Tanzania - Reproduction of the Barn Owl in Morocco - Second part of a guide to sites in Cameroon - All The Birds of Africa - List of Bird Recorders and Checklist Compilers Vol 11.2. August 2004. A reassessment of the conservation status of Prince Ruspoli's Turaco - Does hybridisatiom with White-cheeked Turaco represent a threat for Prince Ruspoli's Turaco? - Nubian Nightjar taxonomy - Birds of the Pic de Fon Reserve, Guinea: a preliminary survey - Brown-necked Parrot diet in Malawi - Unusual nests of Sao Tome Weaver - First sub-Saharan record of Yellow-browed Warbler in Senegal (December 2003) - Rameron Pigeons drinking and bathing - Little known African bird: Gabela Akalat, Angola's long neglected Gabelatrix - Birding western Angola

Vol 12.1. March 2005. House Bunting distribution in Tunisia - White-backed Night Heron in Burkina Faso - Anambra Waxbill - Yellow-capped Weaver is not a ‘nuthatch-weaver’ - Pied & Somaloi Crows in Eritrea – First records: Bimaculated Lark, Seychelles; Long-eared Owl breeding, Egypt; Glossy Ibis & Squacco Heron, Seychelles; Great Bittern, Uganda - Barau’s Petrel southern Africa - Chaplin’s Barbet - Mascarene Grey White-eye photospot - Birding Tunisia-off the beaten track - São Tomé Grosbeak Vol 12.2. August 2005. Western Black-headed Batis - Rare birds in Morocco - Additions to the avifauna of Mali - Yellow-billed Kite in Mali - Argan woodland: an important bird habitat in Morocco - Cape Verde Warbler on Fogo - Beaudouin’s and Short-toed Snake Eagles in Kenya – first breeding Spectacled Warbler in Mauritania – First records: Asiatic Dowitcher , American Golden Plover, Mauritania and status in western Africa; Red-chested Cuckoo, Grassland Pipit, Buff-bellied Warbler and Isabelline Shrike, Niger; Black-headed Gull, Benin; Black Heron, Congo-Brazzaville - Little known African bird: Mali Firefinch - Photospot: An intermediate form of Hairy-breasted Barbet

Vol 13.1. March 2006. What is Pogoniulus makawai? - White-winged Flufftail in Ethiopia - Shoebill in Tanzania - Sierra Leone Prinia in Guinea - First sound recording of Golden Nightjar - Plain Swift breeding on Canary Islands - Foraging & habitat of Ring Ouzels wintering in the Atlas Moutains of Morocco - First records: Rose-coloured Starling for Ethiopia & sub-Saharan Africa; Bridled Tern for The Gambia; Desert Eagle Owl for Burkina Faso; Blackcap for Mozambique; Mottled & Alpine Swift for Niger; Grey-necked Picathartes for Congo-Brazzaville; Kermadec Petrel for Seychelles - Pink-backed Pelican in Madagascar - Lake Bedo - a little-known wetland hotspot in Madagascar.
Vol 13.2. August 2006. Taxonomy & conservation of Chapin’s Crombec - Crimson-winged Finch taxonomy - Fraser’s Eagle Owl & Akun Eagle Owl - Wattled Ibis in Bale Mountains - Chapin’s Flycatcher in Kakamega Forest - Notable winter records of birds in Tunisia - Report of the Seychelles Bird Records Committee - Ethiopian Bush Crow biology - Atlas Flycatcher or Collared Flycatcher in Mauritania - Mangrove Kingfisher inland in Zambia - Pelagics in southern Mozambique Channel - Madagascar Red Owl - First records: Oriental Honey Buzzard in Gabon, Dunlin in Benin, Pink-billed Lark in Angola, Sooty Gull in Seychelles, Blue Quail in Swaziland - Little-known African bird: Little Brown Bustard

Vol 14.1. March 2007. The number of species in the wattle-eye genus - Birds of Lusenga Plain National Park, Zambia - Bird observations from Dabola Prefecture, Guinea - The enigmatic Bates's Weaver - The endemic kestrels of the Cape Verde Islands - Birding Dja Biosphere Reserve, southern Cameroon and much more.

Vol 14.2. August 2007. Birds to find: a review of lost, obscure and poorly known African bird species - Studies of Socotran birds - Rediscovery of the Madagascar Pochard - Swierstra's Francolin: a bibliography and summary of specimens - A nest of Grey-necked Picathartes - Photospot: Hybrids between African and Green-breasted Pittas - Birding northern Kenya: in search of Masked Lark.

Vol 15.1. March 2008. Towards a conservation plan for Cape Griffon - singing habits of forest honeyguides in the Guineo-Congolian region - new bird records for Botswana - preliminary survey of Taita Falcon - observations of threatened birds in the East Usambara Mountains - Tanzania - ecology of Brown Nightjar - Madagascar Swamp Warbler far from a swamp - avifauna of Cangandala NP, Angola and much more.
Vol 15.2. September 2008. Key to the identity of White-bearded Greenbul - type locality etc. of Sidamo Lark - the avifauna of Ghana - birds of Fazao-Malfakassa NP, Togo - selected notes on the birds of the Gola Forest, Sierra Leone - status of breeding seabirds on Eritrean Red Sea islands - Chad Firefinch in Northern Cameroon - Seebohm's Wheatear in West Africa - Intermediate forms of Hairy-breasted Barbet in Congo and much more.

Vol 16.1. March 2009. Report of the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee (2004-2006) - Bird observations from south-east Sudan - Additions to the avifauna of Congo-Brazzaville - The search for the winter quarters of the Aquatic Warbler - The seabirds of the Conrad Rise, Southern Ocean - Occurrence of White-tailed Swallow near Negele, Ethiopia - Birding in Sierra Leone: an emerging West Africa destination and much more. Vol 16.2. September 2009. Vocalisations of Angolan birds - Rediscovery of Lake Lufira Weaver - The song of Prigogine's Nightjar and its possible occurrence in Lower Guinea - Le Tadorne de Belon en Afrique de l'Ouest - A survey of birds in Omo Forest Reserve, south-western Nigeria - A bird survey of the Ruvuma Delta, northern Mozambique - Unusual nest sites of Réunion Stonechat - Salvin's Albatross on Gough Island and much more.

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Last page update 3rd September 2009