Cameroun | Cameroon

SUB-REGION
Central Africa

SIZE
475,440 km²

BIRDS AND BIRDING

SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 950 recorded species (6th longest bird list of any country in the ABC region)

Birds best found in Cameroon but occurring more widely (BT), including endemic subspecies (ESS)
White-crested Turaco
Zenker’s Honeyguide
Brown-backed Woodpecker
Fox Kestrel
Grey-headed Broadbill
Black-necked Wattle-eye
Grey-necked Rockfowl | Red-headed Picathartes
Mountain Saw-wing
Forest Swallow
Spotted Thrush-Babbler (ESS harterti)
Forest White-eye
Bronze-tailed Starling
Neumann’s Starling
White-collared Starling
Crossley’s Ground Thrush
Yellow-footed Flycatcher
Short-tailed Akalat | Alexander’s Akalat
Orange-tufted Sunbird
Grey-headed Oliveback | White-cheeked Oliveback
Yellow-winged Pytilia | Red-faced Pytilia
Dybowski’s Twinspot
Oriole Finch
Brown-rumped Bunting

Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not NE or BT (1/2)
Monteiro’s Bushshrike
Rock Firefinch
Chad Firefinch | Reichenow’s Firefinch
Jos Plateau Indigobird

Birds best found in two territories but occurring in more (B2), including ESS
Black Guineafowl
Plumed Guineafowl
White-throated Francolin
Schlegel’s Francolin
Bates’s Nightjar
Bates’s Swift
Gabon Coucal
Black-throated Coucal (efulenensis)
White-naped Pigeon
Grey Pratincole
Sjöstedt’s Barred Owlet
Shelley’s Eagle-Owl
Vermiculated Fishing Owl
Bare-cheeked Trogon
Willcocks’s Honeyguide
Gabon Woodpecker
Red-headed Lovebird
Gabon Batis | Verreaux’s Batis
White-spotted Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Red-eyed Puffback | Black-shouldered Puffback
Eastern Wattled Cuckooshrike
Rufous-vented Paradise Flycatcher
Bates’s Paradise Flycatcher
Yellow-lored Bristlebill
Sjöstedt’s Greenbul
Eastern Bearded Greenbul
White-bearded Greenbul
Xavier’s Greenbul (ESS serlei)
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow
Dja River Scrub Warbler
Chattering Cisticola
Black-collared Apalis
Red-winged Grey Warbler
Gosling’s Apalis
Black-eared Ground Thrush
Gambaga Flycatcher
White-crowned Robin-Chat
White-crowned Cliff Chat
Violet-tailed Sunbird
Bates’s Sunbird
Yellow-capped Weaver
Cassin’s Malimbe | Black-throated Malimbe
Rachel’s Malimbe
Woodhouse’s Antpecker
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Pale-fronted Nigrita
Black-headed Waxbill
Red-winged Pytilia
Black-bellied Firefinch
Cameroon Indigobird
Long-legged Pipit

Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Black-shouldered Nightjar (B2)
Verreaux’s Turaco (B2)
Congo Pied Hornbill
Eastern Piping Hornbill
Western Little Hornbill
Eastern Long-tailed Hornbill (B2)
(Western) Grey-throated Barbet (B2)
Eastern Yellow-spotted Barbet
Streaky-throated Barbet
Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet
Plain-backed Woodpecker
Johnston’s Woodpecker (NE)
West African Pitta (B2)
Pale-throated Greenbul
Shari Saw-wing (BT)
Petit’s Saw-wing (B2)
Cameroon Forest Warbler (BT)
Brown-backed Cisticola (NE)
Western Stout Cisticola (santae)
Western Buff-throated Apalis (B2)
Black-crowned Capuchin Babbler
African Scrub Robin
Gabon Forest Robin (B2)
Eastern Forest Robin
Volcano Sunbird (BT)
Neumann’s Weaver (BT)
Black-faced Quailfinch
Grey Firefinch (B2)
Cameroon Pipit (NE)
Bannerman’s Pipit (BT)

Other taxa of interest, including ESS
Hartlaub’s Duck
Western Crested Guineafowl (ESS sclateri)
Latham’s Francolin
Ring-necked Francolin
Scaly Spurfowl (squamatus)
Black Spinetail
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Fernando Po Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Guinea Turaco
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
Blue-headed Wood Dove
African Finfoot
White-spotted Flufftail (ESS batesi)
Nkulengu Rail
Rock Pratincole
African Skimmer
West African Crested Tern
Olive Ibis (cupreipennis)
Spot-breasted Ibis
Western Reef Heron
Congo Serpent Eagle (batesi)
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Red-chested Owlet (ESS pycrafti)
Sandy Scops Owl (holerythrus)
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
White-thighed Hornbill
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Black-casqued Hornbill
Yellow-casqued Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
White-bellied Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Blue-moustached Bee-eater
Black Bee-eater
Bristle-nosed Barbet
Naked-faced Barbet
Yellow-footed Honeyguide
Least Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
African Piculet
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Yellow-crested Woodpecker
Speckle-breasted Woodpecker
Elliot’s Woodpecker
Grey Parrot
Red-fronted Parrot
Black-collared Lovebird (zenkeri)
Rufous-sided Broadbill
Grey-headed Batis (chadensis)
West African Batis
Chestnut Wattle-eye
Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye
Many-coloured Bushshrike
Bocage’s Bushshrike
Marsh Tchagra
Sabine’s Puffback
Pink-footed Puffback
Lühder’s Bushshrike
Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike
African Shrike-flycatcher
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
Petit’s Cuckooshrike
Blue Cuckooshrike
Sharpe’s Drongo
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
White-shouldered Black Tit
Dusky Tit
Forest Penduline Tit
Western Nicator
Yellow-throated Nicator
Golden Greenbul
Spotted Greenbul
Falkenstein’s Greenbul
Simple Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul
Ansorge’s Greenbul
Icterine Greenbul
Red-tailed Leaflove
Square-tailed Saw-wing
White-bibbed Swallow
West African Swallow
Yellow Longbill
Kemp’s Longbill
Grey Longbill
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia
Tit Hylia
Uganda Woodland Warbler
Highland Rush Warbler
Lowland Masked Apalis
Black-throated Apalis
Black-capped Apalis
Banded Prinia
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Olive-green Camaroptera
Black-faced Rufous Warbler
Rufous-crowned Eremomela
Brown Illadopsis
Pale-breasted Illadopsis
Blackcap Illadopsis
Violet-backed Hyliota
Purple-headed Starling
Chestnut-winged Starling
Narrow-tailed Starling
Fraser’s Rufous Thrush (rubicunda)
White-tailed Ant Thrush
Red-tailed Ant Thrush
Grey Ground Thrush
Fire-crested Alethe
Brown-backed Scrub Robin
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher
White-browed Forest Flycatcher (ruthae)
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Olivaceous Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher
Dusky-blue Flycatcher (ESS camerunensis)
Sooty Flycatcher
Brown-chested Alethe
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Lowland Akalat
Sooty Chat
Fraser’s Sunbird
Mangrove Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird
Reichenbach’s Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Carmelite Sunbird
Green-throated Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Black-necked Weaver
Dark-backed Weaver (tephronotus)
Preuss’s Weaver
Red-crowned Malimbe
Red-vented Malimbe
Blue-billed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Bob-tailed Weaver
White-breasted Nigrita
Western Bluebill
Black-bellied Seedcracker
Yellow-fronted Canary (ESS punctigula)
Cabanis’s Bunting

MAIN HABITATS
Afromontane forest, lowland forest, Guinea woodlands, arid savanna

BIRD AREAS
Cameroon mountains Endemic Bird Area (EBA)
Cameroon and Gabon lowlands EBA
33 Important Bird Areas

BIRDING SITES
Mount Kupe, Bakossi Mountains, Mount Cameroon and Mount Oku in the Bamenda highlands for all the montane endemics and near-endemics plus African Black Swift (ESS serlei), Bar-tailed Trogon (camerunensis), White-headed Wood Hoopoe (ESS okuensis), Western Tinkerbird (coryphaea), Grey Cuckooshrike, Mackinnon’s Shrike, White-bellied Crested Flycatcher (albiventris), White-bellied Tit, Rufous-naped Lark (ESS bamendae), Pectoral-patch Cisticola (ESS lynesi), Grey Apalis (sclateri), African Hill Babbler (ESS monachus), Rwenzori Hill Babbler, Grey-chested Babbler, Waller’s Starling (preussi), African Thrush (ESS nigrilorum), African Dusky Flycatcher (poensis), White-bellied Robin-Chat (roberti), Black-billed Weaver (melanogaster), Brown-capped Weaver, Yellow Bishop (phoenicomerus), Red-faced Crimsonwing (reichenovii), Black-crowned Waxbill (ESS eisentrauti) and Thick-billed Seedeater (burtoni)
Campo Ma’an National Park (NP) and Korup NP for lowland forest species including most of the other taxa of interest listed above
Ngaoundaba Ranch and Bénoué NP for some of the BT and B2 species above plus Stone Partridge, Double-spurred Spurfowl (adamauae), Standard-winged Nightjar, Pennant-winged Nightjar, Violet Turaco, Ross’s Turaco, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Adamawa Turtle Dove, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Brown-chested Lapwing, Egyptian Plover, Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle, Grasshopper Buzzard, Black Scimitarbill, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Blue-bellied Roller, Red-throated Bee-eater, Vieillot’s Barbet, White-headed Barbet (adamauae), Bearded Barbet, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Senegal Parrot, Red-headed Lovebird, Senegal Batis, Black-headed Gonolek, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, Yellow-billed Shrike, Emin’s Shrike, Piapiac, Yellow Penduline Tit, Rufous-naped Lark (ESS stresemanni), Sun Lark (ESS struempelli), Rock-loving Cisticola, Dorst’s Cisticola, Rufous Cisticola, Pectoral-patch Cisticola (ESS mbangensis), Red-winged Prinia, Oriole Warbler, Senegal Eremomela, Blackcap Babbler, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, African Spotted Creeper, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Grey-winged Robin-Chat (ESS tessmanni), White-fronted Black Chat, Beautiful Sunbird, Sahel Bush Sparrow, Marsh Widowbird, Brown Twinspot, Bar-breasted Firefinch, Wilson’s Indigobird, Exclamatory Paradise Whydah, West African Seedeater and Gosling’s Bunting
Waza NP and Mora for Clapperton’s Spurfowl, Arabian Bustard, Savile’s Bustard, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, African Collared Dove, Black Crowned Crane, Quail-plover, Black-headed Lapwing, Scissor-tailed Kite, Blue-naped Mousebird, African Green Bee-eater, Little Grey Woodpecker, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Grey-backed Fiscal, Sennar Penduline Tit, Red-pate Cisticola, River Prinia, Cricket Warbler, Buff-bellied Warbler, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Chestnut-bellied Starling, Black Scrub Robin, Heuglin’s Wheatear, Pygmy Sunbird, Sudan Golden Sparrow, Speckle-fronted Weaver, White-billed Buffalo Weaver, African Silverbill, Lavender Waxbill, Black-rumped Waxbill, Quailfinch Indigobird and Sahel Paradise Whydah

TIMING (Nov, Mar–Apr)
Best when it is dry and easy to get around, which is when most forest birds breed (Dec–Apr)
Grey-necked Rockfowl breeds May–Oct
Immediately after the rains (Oct–Dec) many whydahs and indigobirds are in breeding plumage
Avoid the main rainy season (May–Sep) due to access problems

RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)

Field guides
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014)

Sounds
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis

Site guides
Birding Cameroon, Part 1 – Northern Cameroon: Guinea Woodlands to Sahel by Michael Mills & Callan Cohen (2003)
Birding Cameroon, Part 2 – Southern Cameroon: Forests, Low to Lofty by Michael Mills & Callan Cohen (2004)
Birding Dja Biosphere Reserve, Southern Cameroon by Eddie Williams (2007)
Mount Kupe and its Birds by Christopher G R Bowden & S Mark Andrews (1994)

Further reading
The Birds of Cameroon: Their Status and Distribution by Marc Languy (2019)
Waterbird Census of Coastal Cameroon and Sanaga River, January-March 2007 edited by Jaap J van der Waarde (2007)
Waders and Waterbirds in the Floodplains of the Logone, Cameroon and Chad, February 2000 edited by Wim Ganzevies & Jeroen Bredenbeek (2005)
La Réserve de Faune du Dja: à la Découverte de la Forêt Tropicale by Lucienne Wilmé (2002)
Cameroon by Roger Fotso, Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire, Robert J Dowsett, Cameroon Ornithological Club, Paul Scholte, Marc Languy & Chris Bowden in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Birds and Mammals of Mt Cameroon: an Update of the State of Knowledge and Further Fieldwork around Mann’s Spring by F Dowsett-Lemaire & R J Dowsett with an Annotated List of the Birds of Mt Cameroon and Appendices (2001)
Further Biological Surveys of Manenguba and Central Bakossi in March 2000, and an Evaluation of the Conservation Importance of Manenguba, Bakossi, Kupe and Nlonako Mts, with Special Reference to Birds Part 1 and Part 2 with an Updated List of the Avifauna of Manenguba Mt and an Updated List of the Avifauna of the Bakossi Mts by F Dowsett-Lemaire & R J Dowsett (2000)
Les Oiseaux d’Afrique Centrale: Liste Faunistique by Patrice Christy & Jean Pierre Vande weghe (1999)
The Birds of Cameroon: an Annotated Checklist by Michel Louette (1981)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, Cameroon Birdline (CBCS), etc.

Websites
Picatharte
UNESCO World Heritage List: Dja Faunal Reserve and Sangha Trinational

Blogs
Parc National de la Bénoué
Voice of Nature (VoN) News is a Cameroon-based environment and conservation non-profit news platform dedicated to speaking for nature & the voiceless

Facebook groups
Les Oiseaux du Cameroun/The Birds of Cameroon

ORGANISATIONS

There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Cameroon

Bird or conservation organisations active in Cameroon include –
Cameroon Wildlife Conservation Society (CWCS)
Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF)
African Nature and Conservation (ANC)
Cameroon Biodiversity Conservation Society (CBCS), formerly the Cameroon Ornithological Club
Voice of Nature (VoNat)
Sekakoh
Korup Rainforest Conservation Society (KRCS)
Tropical Forest and Rural Development (TF-RD)
Action pour le Respect et la Protection de l’Environnement (ARPE)
Groupement d’Appui pour le Développement Durable (GADD)
Action Concertée pour le Développement Durable (ACODED)
Community Association for Sustainable Development (CASuDev)
Cameroon Gender and Environment Watch (CAMGEW)
Cameroon Environmental Watch (CEW)
Green Cameroon
WCS Cameroon
WWF Cameroon

Ecole de Faune de Garoua (EFG) in Cameroon is the only school in West and Central Africa designed to train professionals from French-speaking nations of sub-Saharan Africa in wildlife conservation and protected area management