Cabo Verde | Kabu Verdi | Cap Vert | Cape Verde

SUB-REGION
Macaronesia

SIZE
Cabo Verde is an archipelago of 10 islands and several islets in the eastern Atlantic Ocean with a combined total land area of 4,033 km²

BIRDS AND BIRDING

SPECIES
Diversity
Mostly Afrotropical avifauna, with a smaller Palaearctic element
Approximately 250 recorded species, including breeding seabirds, endemic landbirds, non-breeding migrants and vagrants

Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2)
Brown-necked Raven

Proposed new species not yet accepted by IOC
Bourne’s Heron | Cape Verde Heron (E bournei)
Cape Verde Barn Owl (E detorta)
Neglected Kestrel (E neglectus)
Alexander’s Kestrel (E alexandri)
Cape Verde Peregrine Falcon (E madens)

Other taxa of interest, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Common Quail (ESS inopinata)
Eurasian Collared Dove
Common Moorhen
Black-winged Stilt
Kentish Plover
Cream-colored Courser (ESS exsul)
Red-billed Tropicbird
White-faced Storm Petrel (ESS eadesorum)
Band-rumped Storm Petrel
Bulwer’s Petrel
Red-footed Booby
Brown Booby
Little Egret
Western Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Osprey
Egyptian Vulture
Black Kite
Grey-headed Kingfisher (ESS acteon)
Greater Hoopoe-Lark (ESS boavistae)
Bar-tailed Lark (ESS cinctura)
Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark (ESS nigriceps)
Eurasian Blackcap (gularis)
Spectacled Warbler (orbitalis)
Spanish Sparrow

National bird
Grey-headed Kingfisher | Passarinha

Introduced species
Helmeted Guineafowl
Rock Dove
House Sparrow
Common Waxbill

Extirpated species
Magnificent Frigatebird
Red Kite (fasciicauda)

MAIN HABITATS
Deserts, dry forests, islets, cliffs, lagoons, saltpans, seashores, dams, sewage ponds

BIRD AREAS
Cape Verde Islands Endemic Bird Area
30 Important Bird Areas

BIRDING SITES
Raso Island/Ilhéu Raso for Raso Lark and breeding seabirds
Santiago Island/Ilha de Santiago for most landbirds including Cape Verde Buzzard, and Cape Verde Warbler at São Jorge dos Orgãos
São Nicolau Island/Ilha de São Nicolau for breeding seabirds and Neglected Kestrel
Offshore for more seabirds including Red Phalarope, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Arctic Tern, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Parasitic Jaeger, Pomarine Jaeger, Great Skua, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Leach’s Storm Petrel, Cory’s Shearwater, Great Shearwater and Manx Shearwater
Wetlands for Nearctic vagrants among other waterbirds including Eurasian Teal, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Pied Avocet, Grey Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Temminck’s Stint, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Collared Pratincole, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Black-crowned Night Heron, Western Reef Heron, Squacco Heron and Yellow-billed Egret

TIMING (Oct, Apr–May)
Best in spring (Mar–Jun) when most birds breed, or immediately after the rains and before it is cold (Oct–Nov)

RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)

Field guides
Birds of the Atlantic Islands: Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cape Verde by Tony Clarke (2006)
Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde by Eduardo García-del-Rey (2011), which is also available in Spanish as Aves de Macaronesia: Azores, Madeira, Islas Canarias, Cabo Verde
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014)
Pelagic Birds of the North Atlantic: an Identification Guide by Andy Paterson (2012)

Sounds
African Bird Sounds/Oiseaux d’Afrique Vol 1: North-West Africa, Canaria and Cap-Verde Islands/Sahara, Maghreb, Madère, Canaries & Iles du Cap-Vert by Claude Chappuis

Site guides
Cape Verde Islands in The Good Bird Guide: a Species-by-Species Guide to Finding Europe’s Best Birds by Keith Marsh (2005)
A Birder’s Guide to the Cape Verde Islands by Dave Sargeant (1997)

Further reading
Birds of the Cape Verde Islands by Eduardo García-del-Rey (2016)
Las Aves Endémicas de las Islas de Cabo Verde by Rubén Barone Tosco (2005)
La Avifauna Nidificante del Archipiélago de Cabo Verde by Rubén Barone Tosco, Guillermo Delgado Castro & Miguel Fernández del Castillo Andersen (2000)
Cape Verde by C J Hazevoet in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
The Birds of the Cape Verde Islands: an Annotated Checklist by Cornelis J Hazevoet (1995)
Les Oiseaux de l’Archipel du Cap Vert/As Aves do Arquipélago de Cabo Verde by René de Naurois (1994)
Cabo Verde História Natural das Ilhas Desertas/The Natural History of the Desertas Islands: Santa Luzia, Branco e Raso by Raquel Vasconcelos, Rui Freitas & Cornelis J Hazevoet (2015)
Encyclopédie Nature de l’Arquipel du Cap Vert by André Szpera (2015)
Birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East: an Annotated Checklist by Dominic Mitchell (2017)
Articles in Zoologia Caboverdiana, Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.

Websites
Aves de Cabo Verde

Blogs
MacaroAves Cabo Verde

Facebook groups
Birds of the Cape Verde Islands (SOC)

ORGANISATIONS

Biosfera is the BirdLife Partner in Cabo Verde

Other bird or conservation organisations active in Cabo Verde include –
Sociedade Caboverdiana de Zoologia (SCVZ)
BIOS.CV
Fundação Maio Biodiversidade (FMB)
Projeto Biodiversidade
Associação Projecto Vitó
Associação para a Defesa do Ambiente e Desenvolvimento (ADAD)
Associação Amigos do Calhau (AAC)
Quercus Cabo Verde
Partenariat Régional pour la Conservation de la Zone Côtière et Marine (PRCM) en Afrique de l’Ouest
Fauna & Flora International (FFI)