SUB-REGION
West Africa
SIZE
322,463 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 730 recorded species
Birds best found in Côte d’Ivoire but occurring more widely (BT), including Upper Guinea endemics (UGE)
Western Wattled Cuckooshrike | Ghana Cuckooshrike (UGE)
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2), including UGE
Nimba Flycatcher (UGE)
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Black-shouldered Nightjar
Etchécopar’s Owlet
Western Piping Hornbill
Western Little Hornbill
Western Long-tailed Hornbill
Western Yellow-spotted Barbet
Western Yellow-billed Barbet
West African Pitta
Rufous-bellied Wattle-eye
Fanti Drongo
Glossy-backed Drongo
Western Square-tailed Drongo
Highland Lark (henrici)
Yellow-bellied Crombec
Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler
Black-faced Quailfinch
Vinaceous Firefinch
Bannerman’s Pipit
Other taxa of interest, including more UGE
Hartlaub’s Duck
African Pygmy Goose
White-breasted Guineafowl (UGE)
Western Crested Guineafowl
Latham’s Francolin
Ahanta Spurfowl
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Brown Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
Black Spinetail
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Great Blue Turaco
Western Plantain-eater
Yellow-billed Turaco
Guinea Turaco
Black-throated Coucal
Blue Malkoha
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
Grey-throated Rail
Nkulengu Rail
Forbes’s Plover
Egyptian Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Rock Pratincole
West African Crested Tern
Olive Ibis
Spot-breasted Ibis
White-crested Tiger Heron
Western Reef Heron
Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle
Western Banded Snake Eagle
Congo Serpent Eagle
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Red-chested Owlet
Sandy Scops Owl
Maned Owl
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Akun Eagle-Owl
Rufous Fishing Owl (UGE)
Forest Wood Hoopoe
White-headed Wood Hoopoe
West African Pied Hornbill
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
Brown-cheeked Hornbill (UGE)
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
Speckled Tinkerbird
Red-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
Hairy-breasted Barbet
Vieillot’s Barbet
Double-toothed Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Yellow-footed Honeyguide
Willcock’s Honeyguide
Least Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
African Piculet
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Little Green Woodpecker
Fire-bellied Woodpecker
Melancholy Woodpecker
Timneh Parrot
Red-fronted Parrot
Brown-necked Parrot
Black-collared Lovebird
Rufous-sided Broadbill
West African Batis
West African Wattle-eye
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Red-cheeked Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Lagden’s Bushshrike
Many-colored Bushshrike
Marsh Tchagra
Sabine’s Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
Red-billed Helmetshrike
African Shrike-flycatcher
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
Purple-throated Cuckooshrike
Blue Cuckooshrike
Western Oriole
Black-winged Oriole
Shining Drongo
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
White-necked Rockfowl | Yellow-headed Picathartes (UGE)
Dusky Crested Flycatcher
Dusky Tit
Forest Penduline Tit
Western Nicator
Golden Greenbul
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Green-tailed Bristlebill (UGE)
Grey-headed Bristlebill
Spotted Greenbul
Swamp Palm Bulbul
Simple Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Western Bearded Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul
Yellow-bearded Greenbul (UGE)
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul
Ansorge’s Greenbul
White-throated Greenbul
Icterine Greenbul
Red-tailed Leaflove
Baumann’s Olive Greenbul
Square-tailed Saw-wing
Fanti Saw-wing
White-bibbed Swallow
Red-chested Swallow
West African Swallow
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow
Kemp’s Longbill
Grey Longbill
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia
Tit Hylia
Black-backed Cisticola
Sierra Leone Prinia (UGE)
Black-capped Apalis
Sharpe’s Apalis (UGE)
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Olive-green Camaroptera
Black-headed Rufous Warbler (UGE)
Rufous-crowned Eremomela
Brown Illadopsis
Pale-breasted Illadopsis
Blackcap Illadopsis
Puvel’s Illadopsis
Rufous-winged Illadopsis (UGE)
Violet-backed Hyliota
Copper-tailed Starling (UGE)
Splendid Starling
Emerald Starling
Purple Starling
Chestnut-winged Starling
Narrow-tailed Starling
Finsch’s Rufous Thrush
White-tailed Ant Thrush
Grey Ground Thrush
White-tailed Alethe
Forest Scrub Robin
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Olivaceous Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher
Dusky-blue Flycatcher
Tessmann’s Flycatcher
Ussher’s Flycatcher
Brown-chested Alethe
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Orange-breasted Forest Robin
Lowland Akalat
Fraser’s Sunbird
Mangrove Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird
Yellow-chinned Sunbird
Reichenbach’s Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Buff-throated Sunbird
Carmelite Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Bates’s Sunbird
Slender-billed Weaver
Olive-naped Weaver
Orange Weaver
Chestnut-and-black Weaver
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Maxwell’s Black Weaver
Compact Weaver
Preuss’s Weaver
Gola Malimbe (UGE)
Red-vented Malimbe
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Red-fronted Antpecker
White-breasted Nigrita
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Grey-headed Nigrita
Pale-fronted Nigrita
Western Bluebill
Crimson Seedcracker
MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest, Guinea savanna
BIRD AREAS
Upper Guinea forests Endemic Bird Area
14 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Taï National Park (NP), Mont Péko NP, Yapo and Mambo Forest Reserves and Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve for lowland forest species, including Upper Guinea endemics
Marahoué NP and Lamto Ecological Research Station on the ecotone of forest and savanna
Comoé NP and Savanes District for Guinea savanna species, including Stone Partridge, White-throated Francolin, Standard-winged Nightjar, Violet Turaco, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Black-headed Lapwing, Grasshopper Buzzard, Northern White-faced Owl, Black Scimitarbill, Abyssinian Roller, Blue-bellied Roller, Red-throated Bee-eater, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Bearded Barbet, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, African Grey Woodpecker, Brown-backed Woodpecker, Fox Kestrel, Senegal Parrot, Red-headed Lovebird, Senegal Batis, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, Yellow-billed Shrike, Emin’s Shrike, African Blue Flycatcher, Piapiac, White-shouldered Black Tit, Yellow Penduline Tit, Rufous-rumped Lark, Sun Lark, Pied-winged Swallow, Northern Crombec, Rock-loving Cisticola, Dorst’s Cisticola, Red-winged Prinia, Oriole Warbler, Senegal Eremomela, Brown Babbler, Blackcap Babbler, African Spotted Creeper, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Bronze-tailed Starling, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Chestnut-bellied Starling, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Gambaga Flycatcher, Swamp Flycatcher, White-crowned Robin-Chat, White-crowned Cliff Chat, White-fronted Black Chat, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Pygmy Sunbird, Beautiful Sunbird, Sahel Bush Sparrow, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Heuglin’s Masked Weaver, Little Weaver, Northern Red Bishop, Grey-headed Oliveback, Red-winged Pytilia, Yellow-winged Pytilia, Lavender Waxbill, Black-rumped Waxbill, Black-bellied Firefinch, Bar-breasted Firefinch, Barka Indigobird, Wilson’s Indigobird, Cameroon Indigobird, Exclamatory Paradise Whydah, Togo Paradise Whydah, West African Seedeater, Gosling’s Bunting, Brown-rumped Bunting and Cabanis’s Bunting
TIMING (Jan–Mar)
Best in the dry season (Nov–Apr) when access is easy and most forest birds breed
Avoid the main rains (May–Sep)
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 Comoé National Park, Ivory Coast by Volker Salewski (1999)
Further reading
Le Peuplement Animal du Mont Nimba: Guinée, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia edited by Maxime Lamotte & Roger Roy (2003)
Côte d’Ivoire by Lincoln Fishpool in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Forest Birds in Côte d’Ivoire: a Survey of Taï National Park and Other Forests and Forestry Plantations, 1989-1991 by Mary E Gartshore, Philip D Taylor & Ian S Francis (1995)
The Status and Conservation of Threatened Birds in the Upper Guinea Forest by Gary Allport (1991)
L’Inventaire de l’Avifaune du Parc National du Taï, Côte d’Ivoire by Mary E Gartshore (1989)
The Birds of Ivory Coast: Status and Distribution by Jean-Marc Thiollay (1985)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
UNESCO World Heritage List: Comoé National Park, Mount Nimba Strict Nature Reserve and Taï National Park
Facebook groups
Les Oiseaux de Côte d’Ivoire
ORGANISATIONS
The BirdLife Partner in Côte d’Ivoire is SOS-Forêts
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Côte d’Ivoire include –
Action pour la Conservation de la Biodiversité en Côte d’Ivoire (ACB-CI)
Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM), formerly SOS Dassioko
Notre Forêt Notre Avenir (NOFNA)
ONG Sauvons l’Environnement
ONG Conservation Taï
NABU