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
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Central African Hoopoe
Barbary Falcon
Glossy-backed Drongo
Arabian Grey Shrike
Somali Bulbul
Eastern Crombec
Mangrove Reed Warbler
African Scrub Robin
“Toha” Sunbird (E)
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
Common Ostrich
Somali Ostrich
Egyptian Goose
Yellow-necked Spurfowl
Nubian Nightjar
Little Swift
Arabian Bustard
Heuglin’s Bustard
White-browed Coucal
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Spotted Sandgrouse
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
Speckled Pigeon
African Collared Dove
Laughing Dove
Namaqua Dove
Senegal Thick-knee
Spotted Thick-knee
Black-winged Stilt
Three-banded Plover
Spur-winged Lapwing
Kittlitz’s Plover
Kentish Plover
Crab-plover
Somali Courser
Bridled Tern
Saunders’s Tern
White-cheeked Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
Greater Crested Tern
Sooty Gull
White-eyed Gull
Red-billed Tropicbird
Abdim’s Stork
White-breasted Cormorant
African Sacred Ibis
Eurasian Spoonbill
African Spoonbill
Western Reef Heron
Little Heron
Goliath Heron
Hamerkop
Osprey
Scissor-tailed Kite
Egyptian Vulture
Rüppell’s Vulture
Eastern Chanting Goshawk
Shikra
Yellow-billed Kite
Little Owl
Northern White-faced Owl
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Blue-naped Mousebird
Abyssinian Scimitarbill
Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill
Grey-headed Kingfisher
White-throated Bee-eater
Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
Black-throated Barbet
Nubian Woodpecker
Sooty Falcon
Lanner Falcon
Rosy-patched Bushshrike
Black-crowned Tchagra
Somali Fiscal
Pied Crow
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
Wattled Starling
White-crowned Starling
Violet-backed Starling
Red-billed Oxpecker
Black Scrub Robin
Blackstart
White-crowned Wheatear
Nile Valley Sunbird
Abyssinian Sunbird
Swainson’s Sparrow
Somali Sparrow
Rüppell’s Weaver
Lesser Masked Weaver
African Silverbill
Crimson-rumped Waxbill
Green-winged Pytilia
Red-billed Firefinch
Long-tailed Paradise Whydah
African Pipit
Trumpeter Finch
Reichenow’s Seedeater
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, Verreaux’s Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Augur Buzzard, African 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, Gambaga Flycatcher, Sombre Rock Chat, Pale Rockfinch, Long-billed Pipit 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, Pacific Golden Plover, Tibetan Sand Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Red-necked Phalarope, Terek Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Brown Noddy, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Slender-billed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Caspian Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull (fuscus/heuglini), Pomarine Jaeger, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Flesh-footed Shearwater, Persian Shearwater, Jouanin’s Petrel, Yellow-billed Stork, Brown Booby, Masked Booby, Socotra Cormorant, Black Heron 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