African Bird Club

A new section of the African Bird Club (ABC) website enables birders to locate authoritative, reviewed information on birding in every African country. African Birding Resources, found at http://www.africanbirdclub.org/countries/ is the result of a collaborative development with Birding Africa.

The section contains the equivalent of over 500 A4 pages of text about birds and birding in 61 countries with a quantity of information for each country which varies from 4 pages for Chad to a massive 30 pages for the Niger Republic.

The text has been written or reviewed by more than 50 country experts and the information for each country follows a standard format with a page each for Introduction, Geography, IBAs (Important Bird Areas), Species, Hotspots, News, Visiting, Conservation, Contacts, and References.

The information has been designed for birders planning a visit to a country, tourists with an interest in birds, and people carrying out general research. There is information about hundreds of birding hotspots across the continent and many of the more than 2,400 species of birds which can be found there. Nearly 100 images of birds and their habitats have been added. The Species page includes notes of all endemic, localized and endangered/threatened species. The Visiting page includes useful field guides, tour companies, local guides, and other useful information.

"I wish this had been available on a recent trip to Kenya - all the key info about birding Kenya's north-east coast is there and would have been invaluable." is the word from Phil Atkinson, who started the project when he was Chairman of the ABC.

John Caddick, Project Manager for this work and Treasurer of the ABC worked for IBM for many years before retiring. He says "this project would not have been possible without the combined efforts of club members and other enthusiasts committed to ornithological conservation in Africa who gave their time both willingly and freely."

Richard Webb the new Chairman of the ABC believes that "the development of African Birding Resources will prove to be of great value to anyone with an interest in African birds. I'm particularly delighted that we are able to provide links to the local guides for many hotspots in Africa."

The section will be developed and maintained as a major resource for birders and since its launch, much new information has already been added. Persons who have visited a country recently and have information based on their experience which might help keep the site up to date, are asked to please send it to info@africanbirdclub.org.

Still only three months old, the new section has helped propel the ABC site www.africanbirdclub.org to a regular place near the top of the FatBirder Top 500 Ranking.

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Additional notes for editors

Screen shots of the website are available at: www.africanbirdclub.org/press

ABC is a UK registered charity which provides a worldwide focus for African ornithology and encourages an interest in the conservation of birds of the region.

ABC produces a twice-yearly bulletin for its members and has donated over £30,000 in the last few years in support of ornithological conservation projects in Africa.

More information about ABC and how to become a member can be found at www.africanbirdclub.org.

Press Release (MS Word)

Screen shots (c. 1MB)

Images


Comoros - sunrise over the island of Anjouan a tiny island in the northern Mozambique Channel, with 3 species found no-where else in the world and desperately threatened with deforestation (Claire Spottiswoode)		Comoro Blue Vanga Cyanolanius madagascarinus comorensis - one of 15 species endemic to this little-birded archipelago (Claire Spottiswoode)


Mulanje Mountain Forest Reserve protects several highly localised bird species emperilled by forest destruction elsewhere in southern Malawi (Claire Spottiswoode)		Boehm's Bee-eater Merops boehmi a delicate species characteristic of lowland river valleys in south-eastern Africa (Claire Spottiswoode)


The Angolan coast at Rio Longa Lodge, south of Luanda. Angola is one of Africa's poorest known countries, but is now opening up to birders and an ABC tour is planned for later in 2005. (Claire Spottiswoode)		Gabela Akalat Sheppardia gabela - a skulking escarpment forest species, one of Angola's 12 endemic species and currently ranked as Endangered. (Claire Spottiswoode)