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
Central African Hoopoe
Eastern Piping Hornbill
Grey-headed Barbet
Eastern Yellow-spotted Barbet
Streaky-throated Barbet
East African Pitta
Glossy-backed Drongo
Dark-capped Bulbul
Shari Saw-wing
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
Hartlaub’s Duck
African Pygmy Goose
Plumed Guineafowl
Western Crested Guineafowl
Stone Partridge
Latham’s Francolin
Scaly Spurfowl
Heuglin’s Spurfowl
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
Standard-winged Nightjar
Pennant-winged Nightjar
Cassin’s Spinetail
Great Blue Turaco
Western Plantain-eater
Ross’s Turaco
White-crested Turaco
Guinea Turaco
Blue-headed Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
Blue-headed Wood Dove
African Finfoot
White-spotted Flufftail
Nkulengu Rail
Senegal Thick-knee
White-crowned Lapwing
Brown-chested Lapwing
Forbes’s Plover
Egyptian Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Rock Pratincole
Grey Pratincole
African Skimmer
Spot-breasted Ibis
White-backed Night Heron
Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle
Western Banded Snake Eagle
Congo Serpent Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Grasshopper Buzzard
Northern White-faced Owl
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Shelley’s Eagle-Owl
Pel’s Fishing Owl
Vermiculated Fishing Owl
Black Scimitarbill
Congo Pied Hornbill
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
White-thighed Hornbill
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Black-casqued Hornbill
Eastern Dwarf Hornbill
Eastern Long-tailed Hornbill
Abyssinian Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
White-bellied Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Black-headed Bee-eater
Black Bee-eater
Swallow-tailed Bee-eater
Red-throated Bee-eater
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Speckled Tinkerbird
Red-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
Vieillot’s Barbet
Double-toothed Barbet
Bearded Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Zenker’s Honeyguide
Willcocks’s Honeyguide
Least Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
Red-throated Wryneck
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Fine-spotted Woodpecker
Golden-tailed Woodpecker
Bearded Woodpecker
Yellow-crested Woodpecker
Speckle-breasted Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Brown-backed Woodpecker
Fox Kestrel
Meyer’s Parrot
Red-headed Lovebird
Rufous-sided Broadbill
Grey-headed Batis
Western Black-headed Batis
Chestnut Wattle-eye
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Many-colored Bushshrike
Red-eyed Puffback
Northern Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
Tropical Boubou
Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike
African Shrike-flycatcher
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
White-breasted Cuckooshrike
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
Emin’s Shrike
Velvet-mantled Drongo
Sharpe’s Drongo
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
African Blue Flycatcher
Dusky Crested Flycatcher
White-shouldered Black Tit
Dusky Tit
Yellow Penduline Tit
Western Nicator
Rufous-rumped Lark
Sun Lark
Slender-billed Greenbul
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Yellow-eyed Bristlebill
Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul
Pale-throated Greenbul
Spotted Greenbul
Swamp Palm Bulbul
Simple Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul
Little Greenbul
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul
White-throated Greenbul
Leaf-love
White-bibbed Swallow
Northern Crombec
Green Crombec
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Green Hylia
Whistling Cisticola
Chattering Cisticola
Foxy Cisticola
Red-winged Prinia
White-chinned Prinia
Red-winged Grey Warbler
Oriole Warbler
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Green-backed Eremomela
Northern Yellow White-eye
Brown Illadopsis
Brown Babbler
Blackcap Babbler
African Spotted Creeper
Yellow-bellied Hyliota
Lesser Blue-eared Starling
Splendid Starling
White-collared Starling
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Fraser’s Rufous Thrush
White-tailed Ant Thrush
Red-tailed Ant Thrush
Fire-crested Alethe
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Northern Black Flycatcher
Dusky-blue Flycatcher
Gambaga Flycatcher
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Sooty Chat
White-fronted Black Chat
Western Violet-backed Sunbird
Violet-tailed Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird
Grey-chinned Sunbird
Collared Sunbird
Green-headed Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Green-throated Sunbird
Olive-bellied Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Orange-tufted Sunbird
Palestine Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Sahel Bush Sparrow
Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver
Spectacled Weaver
Black-necked Weaver
Orange Weaver
Vieillot’s Black Weaver
Compact Weaver
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Red-headed Quelea
Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Red-collared Widowbird
Green Twinspot
Woodhouse’s Antpecker
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Grey-headed Nigrita
Grey-headed Oliveback
Black-crowned Waxbill
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Black-bellied Seedcracker
Red-winged Pytilia
Yellow-winged Pytilia
Dybowski’s Twinspot
Brown Twinspot
African Firefinch
Black-bellied Firefinch
Bar-breasted Firefinch
Exclamatory Paradise Whydah
Wilson’s Indigobird
Cameroon Indigobird
Mountain Wagtail
West African Seedeater
Brown-rumped Bunting
Cabanis’s Bunting
MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest, moist savanna
BIRD AREAS
8 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Dzanga-Sangha Special Reserve, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park (NP) and Ngotto Forest for Dja River Scrub Warbler and Yellow-breasted Forest Robin (sanghensis) as well as other lowland forest species including Black Guineafowl, Brown Nightjar, Bates’s Nightjar, Black Spinetail, Sabine’s Spinetail, Gabon Coucal, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo, White-crested Tiger Heron, Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, Red-chested Owlet, Sjöstedt’s Barred Owlet, Sandy Scops Owl, Akun Eagle-Owl, Bare-cheeked Trogon, Forest Wood Hoopoe, White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Western Dwarf Hornbill, Blue-throated Roller, Blue-headed Bee-eater, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Bristle-nosed Barbet, Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet, African Piculet, Gabon Woodpecker, Elliot’s Woodpecker, Grey Parrot, Red-fronted Parrot, Black-collared Lovebird, Grey-headed Broadbill, Green-breasted Pitta, Gabon Batis, West African Batis, White-spotted Wattle-eye, Black-necked Wattle-eye, Bocage’s Bushshrike, Sabine’s Puffback, Lühder’s Bushshrike, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Eastern Wattled Cuckooshrike, Blue Cuckooshrike, Western Oriole, Black-winged Oriole, Shining Drongo, Bates’s Paradise Flycatcher, Grey-necked Rockfowl, Forest Penduline Tit, Yellow-throated Nicator, Golden Greenbul, Yellow-lored Bristlebill, Falkenstein’s Greenbul, Sjöstedt’s Greenbul, Eastern Bearded Greenbul, White-bearded Greenbul, Ansorge’s Greenbul, Xavier’s Greenbul, Icterine Greenbul, Square-tailed Saw-wing, Yellow Longbill (flavicans), Grey Longbill, Chestnut-capped Flycatcher, Tit Hylia, Banded Prinia, Black-throated Apalis, Black-capped Apalis, Gosling’s Apalis, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Rufous-crowned Eremomela, Forest White-eye, Pale-breasted Illadopsis, Blackcap Illadopsis, Violet-backed Hyliota, Purple-headed Starling, Chestnut-winged Starling, Narrow-tailed Starling, Grey Ground Thrush, Brown-backed Scrub Robin, Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher, Olivaceous Flycatcher, Ashy Flycatcher, Sooty Flycatcher, Yellow-footed Flycatcher, Little Grey Flycatcher, Brown-chested Alethe (compsonota), Lowland Akalat, Fraser’s Sunbird, Reichenbach’s Sunbird, Tiny Sunbird, Purple-banded Sunbird, Johanna’s Sunbird, Bates’s Sunbird, Yellow-mantled Weaver, Maxwell’s Black Weaver, Preuss’s Weaver, Yellow-capped Weaver, Red-crowned Malimbe, Cassin’s Malimbe, Red-bellied Malimbe, White-breasted Nigrita, Pale-fronted Nigrita, Grant’s Bluebill and Western Bluebill
Ubangi River for Bob-tailed Weaver
Bangui for Preuss’s Cliff Swallow, Rufous-tailed Palm Thrush and Black Bishop
Chinko for lowland forest as well as moist savanna species including Eastern Plantain-eater, Denham’s Bustard, Black-throated Coucal (neumanni), Thick-billed Cuckoo, White-naped Pigeon, Grey-throated Rail, Saddle-billed Stork, Secretarybird, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Sladen’s Barbet, Little Green Woodpecker (permista), Niam-niam Parrot, African Broadbill, African Pitta (longipennis), Jameson’s Wattle-eye, Marsh Tchagra, Yellow Longbill (hypochondriacus), Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Spotted Thrush-Babbler (turdina), Capuchin Babbler (bohndorffi), Dusky Babbler, Forest Scrub Robin, Brown-chested Alethe (carruthersi), Red-capped Robin-Chat (intensa), Fawn-breasted Waxbill (paludicola) and Red-headed Bluebill
Manovo-Gounda St Floris NP and Bamingui-Bangoran NP for Schlegel’s Francolin, Clapperton’s Spurfowl, Arabian Bustard, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Black-billed Wood Dove, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, African Rail, Black Crowned Crane, Spotted Thick-knee, Black-headed Lapwing, Lesser Jacana, Scissor-tailed Kite, Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Blue-bellied Roller, African Green Bee-eater, White-headed Barbet, Black-breasted Barbet, Senegal Parrot, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Black-headed Gonolek, Yellow-billed Shrike, Grey-backed Fiscal, Piapiac, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Crested Lark, Ethiopian Swallow, Greater Swamp Warbler, Rock-loving Cisticola (petrophilus), Red-pate Cisticola, Black-backed Cisticola, Buff-bellied Warbler, Purple Starling, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Bronze-tailed Starling, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin (minor), Swamp Flycatcher, White-crowned Robin-Chat, White-browed Robin-Chat, Anteater Chat, Heuglin’s Wheatear, Pygmy Sunbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Little Weaver, Heuglin’s Masked Weaver, Vitelline Masked Weaver, Black-headed Weaver (capitalis), Red-headed Weaver, Red-billed Quelea, Northern Red Bishop, Fan-tailed Widowbird, White-winged Widowbird, African Silverbill, Lavender Waxbill, Black-rumped Waxbill, Green-winged Pytilia, Red-billed Firefinch, Sahel Paradise Whydah, White-rumped Seedeater, Gosling’s Bunting and Golden-breasted Bunting
Yade Massif for Rufous Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Senegal Eremomela, Red-throated Rock Martin, Neumann’s Starling, African Dusky Flycatcher, Grey-winged Robin-Chat, Mocking Cliff Chat (coronata), Northern Double-collared Sunbird (preussi), Variable Sunbird and Baglafecht Weaver (neumanni)
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