SUB-REGION
Horn of Africa
SIZE
23,200 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Significant Afrotropical and Palaearctic elements in the avifauna
Approximately 330 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 splits not yet accepted by IOC
Arabian Grey Shrike
Eastern Crombec
Mangrove Reed Warbler
African Scrub Robin
Other taxa of interest
Somali Ostrich
Yellow-necked Spurfowl
Nubian Nightjar
Plain Nightjar
Star-spotted Nightjar
Slender-tailed Nightjar
Arabian Bustard
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Spotted Sandgrouse
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
African Collared Dove
Bruce’s Green Pigeon
Crab-plover
Somali Courser
Brown Noddy
Sooty Gull
White-eyed Gull
Saunders’s Tern
Bridled Tern
White-cheeked Tern
Red-billed Tropicbird
Persian Shearwater
Abdim’s Stork
Brown Booby
Eurasian Spoonbill (archeri)
Western Reef Heron
Scissor-tailed Kite
Egyptian Vulture
Rüppell’s Vulture
Abyssinian Scimitarbill
Eastern Yellow-billed Hornbill
Hemprich’s Hornbill
Black-throated Barbet
Yellow-breasted Barbet
Nubian Woodpecker
Sooty Falcon
Grey-headed Batis
Rosy-patched Bushshrike
Ethiopian Boubou
Somali Crow
Fan-tailed Raven
Greater Hoopoe-Lark
Desert Lark (assabensis)
Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark
Brown Woodland Warbler
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Graceful Prinia
Red-fronted Prinia
Grey Wren-Warbler
Arabian Warbler
Abyssinian White-eye
White-crowned Starling
Red-billed Oxpecker
Black Scrub Robin
Gambaga Flycatcher
Blackstart
Brown-tailed Rock Chat
Sombre Rock Chat
White-crowned Wheatear
Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird
Nile Valley Sunbird
Shining Sunbird
Swainson’s Sparrow
Somali Sparrow
Sudan Golden Sparrow
Rüppell’s Weaver
African Silverbill
Crimson-rumped Waxbill
Trumpeter Finch
Yellow-rumped Seedeater
Striolated 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 for Djibouti Spurfowl and Somali Starling
Djibouti City area for Arabian Golden Sparrow and waders/shorebirds
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
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