SUB-REGION
Central Africa
SIZE
622,984 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 750 recorded species
Near-endemics (NE)
Niam-niam Parrot
Birds best found in two territories but occurring in more (B2)
Schlegel’s Francolin
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
Black-shouldered Nightjar
Western Black-billed Turaco
Neumann’s Coucal
Red-chested Goshawk
Chestnut Owlet
Central African Hoopoe
Eastern Piping Hornbill
Grey-headed Barbet
Eastern Yellow-spotted Barbet
Streaky-throated Barbet
Thick-billed Honeyguide
East African Pitta
Glossy-backed Drongo
Dark-capped Bulbul
Shari Saw-wing
West African Swallow
African Reed Warbler
Western Buff-throated Apalis
Tawny-breasted Camaroptera
Grey-caped Capuchin Babbler
African Scrub Robin
Sangha Forest Robin (would-be endemic)
White-crowned Cliff Chat
Neumann’s Weaver
Black-faced Quailfinch
Grey Firefinch
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
Common Ostrich
African Pygmy Goose
Blue Quail
Chestnut-headed Flufftail
African Skimmer
Shoebill
Congo Serpent Eagle
Ovambo Sparrowhawk
Marsh Owl
Shelley’s Eagle-Owl
Sladen’s Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Zenker’s Honeyguide
Willcocks’s Honeyguide
Grey-headed Broadbill
Gabon Batis
Black-necked Wattle-eye
Many-colored Bushshrike
Bocage’s Bushshrike
Pink-footed Puffback
Lühder’s Bushshrike
Eastern Wattled Cuckooshrike
Dusky Tit
African River Martin
Congo Martin
Scaly-breasted Illadopsis
Ashy Flycatcher
Bob-tailed Weaver
Red-bellied Malimbe
Black Bishop
Green Twinspot
Cameroon Indigobird
Cuckoo-finch
MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest, moist savanna
BIRD AREAS
8 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park (NP), Mbaéré Bodingué NP and Ngotto Classified Forest for Dja River Scrub Warbler and Yellow-breasted Forest Robin (sanghensis) as well as other lowland forest species including Hartlaub’s Duck, Black Guineafowl, Plumed Guineafowl, Latham’s Francolin, Brown Nightjar, Bates’s Nightjar, Mottled Spinetail, Black Spinetail, Sabine’s Spinetail, Cassin’s Spinetail, Great Blue Turaco, Guinea Turaco, Gabon Coucal, Blue-headed Coucal, Black Coucal, Blue Malkoha, Levaillant’s Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, African Emerald Cuckoo, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, Black Cuckoo, Red-chested Cuckoo, Afep Pigeon, Tambourine Dove, Blue-headed Wood Dove, African Green Pigeon, White-spotted Flufftail, Buff-spotted Flufftail, African Crake, Nkulengu Rail, White-crowned Lapwing, White-fronted Plover, Egyptian Plover, African Jacana, Rock Pratincole, Grey Pratincole, African Woolly-necked Stork, Spot-breasted Ibis, White-crested Tiger Heron, African Harrier-Hawk, Palm-nut Vulture, African Cuckoo-Hawk (batesi), Crowned Eagle, Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle, Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, Long-tailed Hawk, African Goshawk (toussenelii), Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk, African Fish Eagle, Red-chested Owlet, Sjöstedt’s Barred Owlet, African Barred Owlet (castaneum), Sandy Scops Owl, Fraser’s Eagle-Owl, Akun Eagle-Owl, Vermiculated Fishing Owl, African Wood Owl, Bare-cheeked Trogon, Forest Wood Hoopoe, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill, Piping Hornbill (duboisi), White-thighed Hornbill, Black-casqued Hornbill, Western Dwarf Hornbill, Eastern Long-tailed Hornbill, Blue-throated Roller, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, African Dwarf Kingfisher, White-bellied Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Blue-headed Bee-eater, Black Bee-eater, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet, Grey-throated Barbet (cinereiceps), Bristle-nosed Barbet, Speckled Tinkerbird, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Yellow-spotted Barbet (duchaillui), Hairy-breasted Barbet (ansorgii), Least Honeyguide, Lesser Honeyguide (conirostris), Spotted Honeyguide, Lyre-tailed Honeyguide, African Piculet, Buff-spotted Woodpecker, Brown-eared Woodpecker, Little Green Woodpecker (permista), Yellow-crested Woodpecker, Gabon Woodpecker, Elliot’s Woodpecker, Grey Parrot, Red-fronted Parrot, Black-collared Lovebird, Rufous-sided Broadbill, Green-breasted Pitta, West African Batis, Chestnut Wattle-eye, White-spotted Wattle-eye, Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye, Sabine’s Puffback, Red-eyed Puffback, Lowland Sooty Boubou, Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Blue Cuckooshrike, Western Oriole, Black-winged Oriole, Velvet-mantled Drongo, Shining Drongo, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Bates’s Paradise Flycatcher, Grey-necked Rockfowl, Dusky Crested Flycatcher, Forest Penduline Tit, Western Nicator, Yellow-throated Nicator, Slender-billed Greenbul, Golden Greenbul, Red-tailed Bristlebill, Yellow-lored Bristlebill, Yellow-eyed Bristlebill, Spotted Greenbul, Swamp Palm Bulbul, Falkenstein’s Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul, Sjöstedt’s Greenbul, Eastern Bearded Greenbul, Red-tailed Greenbul, White-bearded Greenbul, Little Greenbul, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Plain Greenbul, Little Grey Greenbul, Ansorge’s Greenbul, White-throated Greenbul, Xavier’s Greenbul, Icterine Greenbul, Square-tailed Saw-wing, Red-chested Swallow (subalaris), White-bibbed Swallow, Red-breasted Swallow, Yellow Longbill (flavicans), Grey Longbill, Green Crombec, Lemon-bellied Crombec, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Green Hylia, Tit Hylia, Chattering Cisticola, Banded Prinia, Black-throated Apalis, Black-capped Apalis, Buff-throated Apalis (rufogularis), Gosling’s Apalis, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Olive-green Camaroptera (chloronota), Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Forest White-eye, Brown Illadopsis, Pale-breasted Illadopsis, Blackcap Illadopsis, Violet-backed Hyliota, Purple-headed Starling, Chestnut-winged Starling, Narrow-tailed Starling, Fraser’s Rufous Thrush, White-tailed Ant Thrush, Red-tailed Ant Thrush, Grey Ground Thrush, Fire-crested Alethe, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, White-browed Forest Flycatcher, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher, Olivaceous Flycatcher, Dusky-blue Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher, Yellow-footed Flycatcher, Little Grey Flycatcher, Brown-chested Alethe (compsonota), Lowland Akalat, Fraser’s Sunbird, Violet-tailed Sunbird, Little Green Sunbird, Grey-chinned Sunbird, Collared Sunbird, Reichenbach’s Sunbird, Blue-throated Brown Sunbird, Olive Sunbird, Green-throated Sunbird, Tiny Sunbird, Purple-banded Sunbird, Johanna’s Sunbird, Bates’s Sunbird, Orange Weaver, Vieillot’s Black Weaver, Yellow-mantled Weaver, Maxwell’s Black Weaver, Preuss’s Weaver, Yellow-capped Weaver, Red-crowned Malimbe, Cassin’s Malimbe, Blue-billed Malimbe, Red-headed Malimbe, Crested Malimbe, Black-and-white Mannikin, White-breasted Nigrita, Chestnut-breasted Nigrita, Grey-headed Nigrita, Pale-fronted Nigrita, Black-headed Waxbill, Common Waxbill, Grant’s Bluebill, Western Bluebill and Black-bellied Seedcracker
Bangui area for Preuss’s Cliff Swallow and Rufous-tailed Palm Thrush as well as more common and widespread species including African Palm Swift, Little Swift, Western Plantain-eater, Senegal Coucal, Diederik Cuckoo, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Red-eyed Dove, Laughing Dove, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Common Moorhen, Black Crake, Little Grebe, African Darter, Reed Cormorant, Little Egret, Little Heron, Great Egret, Yellow-billed Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Hamerkop, Osprey, Black-winged Kite, Lizard Buzzard, Shikra, Yellow-billed Kite, Red-necked Buzzard, Western Barn Owl, Speckled Mousebird, Congo Pied Hornbill, Broad-billed Roller, Woodland Kingfisher, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, White-throated Bee-eater, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Common Kestrel, Western Black-headed Batis, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Brown-crowned Tchagra, African Paradise Flycatcher, Pied Crow, Pale-throated Greenbul, Simple Greenbul, Common Bulbul (tricolor), Brown-throated Martin, Lesser Striped Swallow, Tawny-flanked Prinia, White-chinned Prinia, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Splendid Starling, Violet-backed Starling, African Thrush, Olive-bellied Sunbird, Superb Sunbird, Copper Sunbird, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Thick-billed Weaver, Black-necked Weaver, Village Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Black-crowned Waxbill, Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, African Pied Wagtail, Plain-backed Pipit and Yellow-fronted Canary
Chinko Conservation Area for Heuglin’s Spurfowl, White-naped Pigeon, Eastern Dwarf Hornbill, Jameson’s Wattle-eye, Spotted Thrush-Babbler (turdina), Dusky Babbler, White-collared Starling, Palestine Sunbird, Woodhouse’s Antpecker and Red-headed Bluebill as well as a mix of lowland forest and moist savanna species including Helmeted Guineafowl (meleagris), Western Crested Guineafowl, Stone Partridge, Scaly Spurfowl, Harlequin Quail, Fiery-necked Nightjar (nigriscapularis), Plain Nightjar, Freckled Nightjar, Long-tailed Nightjar, Standard-winged Nightjar, Pennant-winged Nightjar, Eastern Plantain-eater, Ross’s Turaco, White-crested Turaco, Black-billed Turaco (schuetti), Denham’s Bustard, Black-bellied Bustard, Black-throated Coucal (neumanni), Great Spotted Cuckoo, Thick-billed Cuckoo, African Cuckoo, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Vinaceous Dove, African Finfoot, Red-chested Flufftail, Grey-throated Rail, Black-rumped Buttonquail, Senegal Thick-knee, Forbes’s Plover, African Wattled Lapwing, Brown-chested Lapwing, Greater Painted-snipe, Bronze-winged Courser, Marabou Stork, Saddle-billed Stork, Abdim’s Stork, Hadada Ibis, Dwarf Bittern, White-backed Night Heron, Black-headed Heron, Secretarybird, Hooded Vulture, Bateleur, Western Banded Snake Eagle, Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle, Brown Snake Eagle, Bat Hawk, Martial Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Tawny Eagle, African Hawk-Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Black Sparrowhawk, Grasshopper Buzzard, African Scops Owl, Northern White-faced Owl, Greyish Eagle-Owl, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Narina Trogon, Common Hoopoe (waibeli), Black Scimitarbill, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, African Grey Hornbill, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Abyssinian Roller, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Striped Kingfisher, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, Black-headed Bee-eater, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Little Bee-eater, Red-throated Bee-eater, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Double-toothed Barbet, Greater Honeyguide, Red-throated Wryneck, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Cardinal Woodpecker, African Grey Woodpecker, Brown-backed Woodpecker, Fox Kestrel, Grey Kestrel, African Hobby, Meyer’s Parrot, Red-headed Lovebird, African Broadbill, African Pitta (longipennis), Grey-headed Batis, Fiery-breasted Bushshrike, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Black-crowned Tchagra, Northern Puffback, Tropical Boubou, Brubru, White-crested Helmetshrike, African Shrike-flycatcher, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, African Golden Oriole, Emin’s Shrike, Fork-tailed Drongo (lugubris), Sharpe’s Drongo, White-shouldered Black Tit, Yellow Penduline Tit, Rufous-rumped Lark, Flappet Lark, Sun Lark, Leaf-love, Black Saw-wing (chalybea), Grey-rumped Swallow, Banded Martin, Moustached Grass Warbler, Northern Crombec, Foxy Cisticola, Red-winged Prinia, Olive-green Camaroptera (toroensis), Green-backed Eremomela, Northern Yellow White-eye, Capuchin Babbler (bohndorffi), Brown Babbler, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, African Spotted Creeper, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Purple Starling, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Forest Scrub Robin, Pale Flycatcher, Grey Tit-Flycatcher, Northern Black Flycatcher, African Dusky Flycatcher, Gambaga Flycatcher, Cassin’s Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Forest Robin (mabirae), Brown-chested Alethe (carruthersi), Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Red-capped Robin-Chat (intensa), Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat, Sooty Chat, White-fronted Black Chat, Familiar Chat, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Pygmy Sunbird, Green-headed Sunbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Orange-tufted Sunbird, Splendid Sunbird, Sahel Bush Sparrow, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Spectacled Weaver, Compact Weaver, Red-headed Quelea, Black-winged Bishop, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Red-collared Widowbird, Magpie Mannikin, Grey-headed Oliveback, Fawn-breasted Waxbill (paludicola), Red-winged Pytilia, Yellow-winged Pytilia, Dybowski’s Twinspot, Brown Twinspot, Black-bellied Firefinch, Bar-breasted Firefinch, Black-faced Firefinch (nigricollis), Wilson’s Indigobird, Exclamatory Paradise Whydah, Yellow-throated Longclaw, West African Seedeater, Brown-rumped Bunting and Cabanis’s Bunting
Manovo-Gounda St Floris NP and Bamingui-Bangoran NP for, at least formerly, Schlegel’s Francolin, Black-breasted Barbet, Speckle-breasted Woodpecker, Niam-niam Parrot and Red-winged Grey Warbler as well as Clapperton’s Spurfowl, Mottled Swift, White-rumped Swift, Arabian Bustard, White-bellied Bustard, Jacobin Cuckoo, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Speckled Pigeon, Mourning Collared Dove, Black-billed Wood Dove, Namaqua Dove, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Black Crowned Crane, Common Buttonquail, Spotted Thick-knee, Black-headed Lapwing, Temminck’s Courser, Scissor-tailed Kite, African Cuckoo-Hawk (cuculoides), White-headed Vulture, Lappet-faced Vulture, White-backed Vulture, Rüppell’s Vulture, Long-crested Eagle, Gabar Goshawk, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, Green Wood Hoopoe, Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Purple Roller, Blue-bellied Roller, African Green Bee-eater, Vieillot’s Barbet, White-headed Barbet, Bearded Barbet, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Bearded Woodpecker, Red-necked Falcon, Senegal Parrot, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Grey-headed Bushshrike, Marsh Tchagra, Black-headed Gonolek, Yellow-billed Shrike, Grey-backed Fiscal, Piapiac, African Blue Flycatcher, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Crested Lark, Red-throated Rock Martin, Ethiopian Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, African Red-rumped Swallow (domicella), Mosque Swallow, Greater Swamp Warbler, Red-faced Cisticola, Whistling Cisticola, Winding Cisticola, Rock-loving Cisticola (petrophilus), Red-pate Cisticola, Zitting Cisticola, Black-backed Cisticola, Buff-bellied Warbler, Oriole Warbler, Senegal Eremomela, Blackcap Babbler, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Bronze-tailed Starling, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin (minor), Swamp Flycatcher, White-crowned Robin-Chat, White-browed Robin-Chat, Mocking Cliff Chat (coronata), Anteater Chat, Heuglin’s Wheatear, Beautiful Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Little Weaver, Heuglin’s Masked Weaver, Vitelline Masked Weaver, Black-headed Weaver (capitalis), Red-headed Weaver, Red-billed Quelea, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Northern Red Bishop, Fan-tailed Widowbird, White-winged Widowbird, African Silverbill, Lavender Waxbill, Black-rumped Waxbill, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Green-winged Pytilia, Red-billed Firefinch, Village Indigobird, Pin-tailed Whydah, Sahel Paradise Whydah, White-rumped Seedeater, Gosling’s Bunting and Golden-breasted Bunting, also waterbirds including White-faced Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Knob-billed Duck, Egyptian Goose, African Rail, Lesser Moorhen, Allen’s Gallinule, African Swamphen, Black-winged Stilt, Spur-winged Lapwing, Kittlitz’s Plover, Lesser Jacana, Collared Pratincole, African Openbill, Yellow-billed Stork, African Sacred Ibis, Glossy Ibis, African Spoonbill, Little Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Goliath Heron, Great White Pelican and Pink-backed Pelican
Nana-Mambéré (Bouar area and Yadé Massif) for Brown-backed Honeybird, Lanner Falcon, Northern Fiscal, Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul, African Yellow Warbler, Singing Cisticola, Croaking Cisticola, Short-winged Cisticola, Rufous Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Neumann’s Starling, Grey-winged Robin-Chat (nigriceps), Northern Double-collared Sunbird (preussi), African Firefinch and Mountain Wagtail
TIMING (Jan–Mar)
Best to go when it is dry to avoid access problems (Dec– Apr), which is probably when most forest birds breed
Avoid the main rains (Aug–Oct)
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
Further reading
Découverte du Nord de la Centrafrique: sur les Terres de la Grand Faune by Willy Delvingt & José L P Lobão Tello (2004)
Central African Republic (République Centrafricaine) by R J Dowsett in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Les Oiseaux d’Afrique Centrale: Liste Faunistique by Patrice Christy & Jean Pierre Vande weghe (1999)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
UNESCO World Heritage List: Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park and Sangha Trinational
Sangha Lodge
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in CAR
Bird or conservation organisations active in CAR include –
Association pour la Protection de la Faune en Centrafrique (APFC)
Réseau des Initiatives Communautaires d’Aménagement et de Gestion Intégrée des Ressources Naturelles de la Forêt de Bangassou (RICAGIRN-FB)
African Parks: Chinko
Chengeta Wildlife
WWF: Dzanga-Sangha
WCS