SUB-REGION
Horn of Africa
SIZE
23,200 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Significant Afrotropical and Palaearctic elements in the avifauna
Approximately 370 recorded species
Endemics (E)
Djibouti Spurfowl (CR)
Birds best found in Djibouti but occurring more widely (BT)
Somali Starling
Arabian Golden Sparrow
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2)
Somali Bulbul
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Arabian Grey Shrike
Glossy-backed Drongo
Eastern Crombec
Mangrove Reed Warbler
African Scrub Robin
Toha Sunbird (E)
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
Common Ostrich
Somali Ostrich
Yellow-necked Spurfowl
Nubian Nightjar
Arabian Bustard
White-browed Coucal
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Spotted Sandgrouse
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
African Collared Dove
Senegal Thick-knee
Spotted Thick-knee
Crab-plover
Kentish Plover
Somali Courser
Sooty Gull
White-eyed Gull
Greater Crested Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
Saunders’s Tern
Bridled Tern
White-cheeked Tern
Red-billed Tropicbird
Abdim’s Stork
Eurasian Spoonbill
Striated Heron
Western Reef Heron
Scissor-tailed Kite
Egyptian Vulture
Rüppell’s Vulture
Verreaux’s Eagle
Eastern Chanting Goshawk
Augur Buzzard
Northern White-faced Owl
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Little Owl
Blue-naped Mousebird
Eurasian Hoopoe
Abyssinian Scimitarbill
Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill
Grey-headed Kingfisher
White-throated Bee-eater
Black-throated Barbet
Nubian Woodpecker
Sooty Falcon
Rosy-patched Bushshrike
Black-crowned Tchagra
Somali Fiscal
Somali Crow
Fan-tailed Raven
Greater Hoopoe-Lark
Desert Lark
Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark
Crested Lark
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler
Desert Cisticola
Graceful Prinia
Red-fronted Prinia
Arabian Warbler
White-crowned Starling
Red-billed Oxpecker
Black Scrub Robin
Gambaga Flycatcher
Blackstart
Sombre Rock Chat
White-crowned Wheatear
Nile Valley Sunbird
Shining Sunbird
Swainson’s Sparrow
Somali Sparrow
Rüppell’s Weaver
Lesser Masked Weaver
African Silverbill
Crimson-rumped Waxbill
Green-winged Pytilia
Long-tailed Paradise Whydah
African Pipit
Long-billed Pipit
Trumpeter Finch
Striolated Bunting
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
MAIN HABITATS
Highland juniper forest, coastal mudflats and mangroves
BIRD AREAS
Djibouti juniper forests Endemic Bird Area
7 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Forêt du Day and Mabla Mountains for Djibouti Spurfowl and Somali Starling as well as Common Quail, African Olive Pigeon, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Arabian Scops Owl, Hemprich’s Hornbill, Yellow-breasted Barbet, Cardinal Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Grey-headed Batis, Ethiopian Boubou, African Paradise Flycatcher, Pale Crag Martin, Brown Woodland Warbler, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Abyssinian White-eye and Yellow-rumped Seedeater
Djibouti City area for Arabian Golden Sparrow and waders/shorebirds
Îles Moucha et Maskali for breeding seabirds and non-breeding migrants including Greater Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Pacific Golden Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Brown Noddy, Slender-billed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Caspian Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull (fuscus/heuglini), Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Pomarine Jaeger, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Persian Shearwater, Jouanin’s Petrel, Masked Booby, Brown Booby, Socotra Cormorant and Pink-backed Pelican
Bab el-Mandeb Strait for soaring bird migration, mainly Booted Eagle, Steppe Eagle and Common Buzzard (vulpinus)
TIMING (Nov, Feb–Mar)
Because Djibouti is a dry country, it is best to visit in the wettest months when most birds breed (Mar–Apr, Nov)
Passage migrants are most prominent Sep–Oct and Mar–Apr
Avoid the hottest time of the year (May–Sep)
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa
eGuide to Birds of East Africa
Field guides
Birds of the Horn of Africa by Nigel Redman, Terry Stevenson & John Fanshawe (2011)
Birds of Eastern Africa by Ber Van Perlo (2009)
Further reading
Djibouti by Georgina Magin in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Catalogue Commenté des Oiseaux de Djibouti by Alain Laurent (1990)
Articles in Scopus, Bull. ABC, etc.
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Djibouti
The BirdLife International UNDP/GEF Migratory Soaring Birds Project works in Djibouti
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Djibouti include –
Djibouti Nature (formerly Wildlife Protection Organisation)
Décan Djibouti