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Black-crowned Night Herons Nycticorax nycticorax

Malanville, north Benin
Sudan-Guinea Savanna

Photo: Agnès Gianotti

The following records are largely unconfirmed and published for interest only in Bulletins of the African Bird Club.

Observations in the forest remnants of the south, from 20 January to 2 March 2009, with also a few days in Ouari Maro Forest Reserve, near Bétérou, in the north, produced many records of species new for the country or very rarely reported previously: White-crested Tiger Heron Tigriornis leucolopha (two heard at dawn in Lokoli swamp forest), Long-tailed Hawk Urotriorchis macrourus (one, probably a vagrant, wandering through Lokoli swamp forest; tape-recorded), Crowned Eagle Stephanoaetus coronatus (a wanderer calling over Lama forest is a first record for the area), Cassin’s Hawk Eagle Hieraaetus africanus (one calling over Lama), Black-throated Coucal Centropus leucogaster (common everywhere in forest; surprisingly hitherto overlooked), Vermiculated Fishing-owl Scotopelia bouvieri (at least four heard and tape-recorded in Lokoli swamp forest), Hairy-breasted Barbet Tricholaema hirsuta (a small population in Lokoli swamp forest and also in Pobè; tape-recorded), Willcocks’s Honeyguide Indicator willcocksi (seen in Niaouli and also observed in riparian forest in Ouari Maro, where tape-recorded), Green-backed Woodpecker Campethera cailliautii (in Lokoli swamp forest; tape-recorded), Baumann’s Greenbul Phyllastrephus baumanni (a large population discovered in thickets in Lama forest; mist-netted and tape-recorded), Finsch’s Flycatcher Thrush Stizorhina finschi (rare in Lokoli, where tape-recorded), Red-cheeked Wattle-eye Dyaphorophyia blissetti (locally common in thickets in Lama forest; mist-netted and tape-recorded), Little Green Sunbird Anthreptes seimundi (several seen at close range on Combretum flowers at Niaouli), Tiny Sunbird Cinnyris minullus (several singing and tape-recorded in Pobè forest), Pale-fronted Negrofinch Nigrita luteifrons (seen and tape-recorded in Elaeis palms and forest at Pobè).

Yellow-throated Tinkerbird Pogoniulus subsulphureus appeared to be the common forest tinkerbird in Niaouli, not Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird P. bilineatus as previously reported (P. subsulphureus was also heard in Pobè, where rare). The observers were able to confirm Purple-headed Glossy Starling Lamprotornis purpureiceps from Lama (where rare) and especially from Lokoli, where small flocks (tape-recorded) were feeding on figs. The common forest oriole is Black-winged Oriole Oriolus nigripennis (especially common in Niaouli, Lokoli and Pobè, where many were seen and tape-recorded), not Western Black-headed O. brachyrhynchus, as previously reported (this species is apparently absent). Also of interest are a Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis on a lagoon west of Cotonou, Greater Swamp Warblers Acrocephalus rufescens heard in Typha and mangrove near Ouidah and Cotonou, where Little Weavers Ploceus pelzelni were also seen (in swamps), and Zebra Waxbills Amandava subflava encountered in grassland near Lokoli. In the north, Rufous Cisticola Cisticola rufus, watched at close range in woodland at Ouari Maro, near Agbassa, is possibly the first record for the country. Whilst the forest remnants at Niaouli, Pobè and especially the larger Lama forest are well protected, the swamp forest at Lokoli is being cut down for gardens, and the future of several bird species in Benin confined to Lokoli, such as Vermiculated Fishing-owl and also Western Bearded Greenbul Criniger barbatus, is very uncertain.

In January 2007, a pale-morph Booted Eagle Hieraaetus pennatus was observed in savanna woodland north of Kountori, Atacora, on 23rd. A Shining-blue Kingfisher Alcedo quadribrachys was noted on the stream below Tanougou waterfalls, Pendjari National Park, on 27th.

Belated reports from August-October 2003 include the following. A Dwarf Bittern Ixobrychus sturmii flew over the university at Calavi on 4 August, one was at the Kota waterfalls on 9 October, and several were near Malanville on the shores of the River Niger on 11-13 October. An Ahanta Francolin Francolinus ahantensis was seen between the villages of Hlagba Dénou and Démé on 16 September. Lesser Moorhen Gallinula angulata was seen a few times near Malanville on 11-13 October. A few Caspian Terns Sterna caspia were at Djacquot beach on 27 August and two were at Ouidah on 24 October. Rosy Bee-eater Merops malimbicus was found to be common near the village of Lokoli. Two Speckled Tinkerbirds Pogoniulus scolopaceus were observed in the southern part of the forest of Lokoli on 8 September, and one in the northern part on 30 September.

Other records from Lokoli include a Red-winged Warbler Heliolais erythropterus, a pair of Buff-throated Apalises Apalis rufogularis on 2 October, a Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone rufiventer on 26 September, and a male Buff-throated Sunbird Chalcomitra adelberti seen well on 1 September. A male Marsh Tchagra Tchagra minuta with a begging juvenile Black Cuckoo Cuculus clamosus was observed near Lokoli on 3 September. Grosbeak Weavers Amblyospiza albifrons were seen a few times at Lokoli and a small flock was at the edge of the forest near Démé. Two Grey-headed Negrofinches Nigrita canicapillus were near Lokoli on 25 September.

More belated reports include African Openbill Storks Anastomus lamelligerus, found to be common in and around Cotonou and Ganvié in October 2004, a Lesser Kestrel Falco naumanni seen in Cotonou on 20 March 1999, a Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio at Bymin, near Porto Novo, also in March 1999, and a Fire-crested Alethe Alethe diademata, apparently the first for Benin, recorded on 27 March 1999.

A belated report was received of a Dunlin Calidris alpina at Guézin marshes, near the Togolese border in the south, on 6 February 2003; this is the second (and possibly the first certain) record for Benin, following an unsubstantiated and rather odd claim of an exceptional 26 birds at the same locality in 1996.

A male Parasitic Weaver Anomalospiza imberbis, a first record for Benin, was observed by Patrick Claffey on 1 July 2002 along the main Cotonou-Lomé road, 9 km east of the Mono River in south Benin.

Additions to the Benin list in 2001 include Yellow-whiskered Greenbul Andropadus latirostris, mist-netted in Pobé forest, c3 km from the border with Nigeria, on 23 March and 1 June, Western Bearded Greenbul Criniger barbatus caught on 29 September, and White-browed Forest-Flycatcher Fraseria cinerascens trapped on 30 March, 13 April and 15 September.

A Red-thighed Sparrowhawk Accipiter erythropus, a species for which there are few records in Benin, was mist-netted and photographed in Niaouli forest, 60 km from Cotonou, on 5 October 2000. It did not have any white spots on the tail and its wings measured 174 mm. According to the literature, these measurements only accord with the female of the race zenkeri. This race, however, is only known to occur in the Lower Guinea forest block, westwards to south Cameroon.

A record from 1999 concerns two Grey Pratincoles Glareola cinerea on the beach in front of the Sheraton Hotel, Cotonou.

Last page update 25th February 2010