SUB-REGION
Central Africa
SIZE
The total area of Equatorial Guinea, consisting of the mainland territory of Río Muni and five islands in the Gulf of Guinea including Bioko and Annobón, is 28,050 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 430 recorded species, 380 in Río Muni, 200 on Bioko (B) and 30 on Annobón (A)
Endemics (E)
Annobon Scops Owl (A) (CR)
Fernando Po Batis | Bioko Batis (B) (LC)
Annobon Paradise Flycatcher (A) (NA)
Fernando Po Speirops | Bioko Speirops (B) (VU)
Annobon White-eye (A) (LC)
Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not near-endemics (1/2)
Island Bronze-naped Pigeon | Sao Tome Bronze-naped Pigeon (A)
Mountain Saw-wing (B)
Ursula’s Sunbird (B)
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
Verreaux’s Turaco
Eastern Piping Hornbill
(Western) Grey-throated Barbet
Johnston’s Woodpecker
Cameroon Forest Warbler (1/2)
Western Buff-throated Apalis
Gabon Forest Robin
Volcano Sunbird (B)
Other taxa of interest, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Hartlaub’s Duck
Plumed Guineafowl
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Fernando Po Swift (B)
Little Swift (B bannermani)
Bates’s Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
African Emerald Cuckoo (A insularum)
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Cameroon Olive Pigeon (B)
Lemon Dove (B, A inornata)
African Green Pigeon (ESS B poensis)
Brown Noddy
Black Noddy (A)
Bridled Tern (A)
White-tailed Tropicbird
Western Reef Heron
Red-chested Goshawk (ESS B lopezi)
Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk
Sjöstedt’s Barred Owlet
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Bare-cheeked Trogon
White-thighed Hornbill
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
Blue-headed Bee-eater
Blue-moustached Bee-eater (B)
Speckled Tinkerbird (ESS B stellatus)
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird (ESS B subsulphureus)
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (ESS B poensis)
Zenker’s Honeyguide
Least Honeyguide (ESS B poensis)
Buff-spotted Woodpecker (ESS B poensis)
Tullberg’s Woodpecker (B)
Gabon Woodpecker
Grey Parrot
Grey-headed Broadbill (ESS B sharpei)
Gabon Batis
West African Batis
Chestnut Wattle-eye
White-spotted Wattle-eye
Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye (graueri)
Black-necked Wattle-eye
Mountain Sooty Boubou (ESS B poensis)
Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike
Blue Cuckooshrike
Velvet-mantled Drongo
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher (ESS B tricolor)
Grey-necked Rockfowl | Red-headed Picathartes
Yellow-lored Bristlebill
Falkenstein’s Greenbul
Sjöstedt’s Greenbul
Western Greenbul
Eastern Bearded Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul (calurus)
White-bearded Greenbul
Little Greenbul (ESS B amadoni)
Xavier’s Greenbul
Cameroon Olive Greenbul
Forest Swallow
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia (ESS B poensis)
Tit Hylia (ESS B bedfordi)
Black-capped Woodland Warbler (ESS herberti)
Uganda Woodland Warbler
Evergreen Forest Warbler (ESS B lopezi)
Green Longtail (ESS B mariae)
White-chinned Prinia
Gosling’s Apalis
Grey Apalis (B sclateri)
Olive-green Camaroptera (ESS B granti)
White-tailed Warbler (ESS B lopezi)
African Hill Babbler (ESS B claudei)
Forest White-eye
Pale-breasted Illadopsis (ESS B bocagei)
Blackcap Illadopsis (ESS B poensis)
Purple-headed Starling
Splendid Starling (ESS B lessoni)
Chestnut-winged Starling
Waller’s Starling (preussi)
Narrow-tailed Starling
Fraser’s Rufous Thrush (ESS B fraseri)
White-tailed Ant Thrush
Red-tailed Ant Thrush
African Thrush (ESS B poensis)
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Yellow-footed Flycatcher
Sooty Flycatcher
Fire-crested Alethe
White-bellied Robin-Chat
Short-tailed Akalat | Alexander’s Akalat (ESS B poensis)
Lowland Akalat
Fraser’s Sunbird (ESS B fraseri)
Violet-tailed Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird (ESS B seimundi)
Collared Sunbird (ESS B hypodila)
Reichenbach’s Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird (ESS B cyanolaema)
Cameroon Sunbird (ESS B poensis)
Olive Sunbird (A obscura)
Green-throated Sunbird (ESS B stangerii)
Johanna’s Sunbird
Bates’s Sunbird
Olive-naped Weaver (ESS B po)
Black-billed Weaver (melanogaster)
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Maxwell’s Black Weaver (ESS B maxwelli)
Brown-capped Weaver (B)
Red-crowned Malimbe
Cassin’s Malimbe
Rachel’s Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe (ESS B rufovelatus)
Red-bellied Malimbe
Shelley’s Oliveback (shelleyi)
Green Twinspot (ESS B virginiae)
Woodhouse’s Antpecker
Pale-fronted Nigrita (ESS B alexanderi)
Black-crowned Waxbill (ESS B elizae)
Long-legged Pipit
MAIN HABITATS
Montane forest on Bioko, lowland forest
BIRD AREAS
Annobón Endemic Bird Area (EBA)
Cameroon mountains EBA (Bioko)
Cameroon and Gabon lowlands EBA (Río Muni)
5 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Basilé Peak for the speirops and Luba Caldera for the batis on Bioko
Annobón
Monte Alén in Río Muni for lowland forest species
TIMING (Jan–Mar)
Best when it is dry and easier to get around, which is when most forest birds breed (Dec–Apr)
Avoid the main rains (Jun–Oct)
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Field Guides
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014)
Las Aves de Bioko, Guinea Ecuatorial: Guia de Campo by Jaime Pérez del Vaz (1996)
Sounds
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis
Further reading
Equatorial Guinea by Jaime Pérez del Vaz in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Monte Alén – Guinea Ecuatorial by Manuel Merino (2002)
Les Oiseaux d’Afrique Centrale: Liste Faunistique by Patrice Christy & Jean Pierre Vande weghe (1999)
A Revised Bird Checklist for the Oceanic Islands of the Gulf of Guinea (Príncipe, São Tomé and Annobón) by Ricardo F de Lima & Martim Melo (2021)
The Birds of São Tomé & Príncipe with Annobón: an Annotated Checklist by Peter Jones & Alan Tye (2006)
Les Oiseaux des Îles du Golfe de Guinée (São Tomé, Príncipe et Annobon)/As Aves das Ilhas do Golfo da Guiné (São Tomé, Príncipe e Ano Bom) by René de Naurois (1994)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Equatorial Guinea
Bird or conservation organisations active in Equatorial Guinea include –
Biodiversity Initiative
Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP)
Gulf of Guinea Biodiversity Center (GGBC)/Centro de Biodiversidade do Golfo da Guiné (CBGG)
WCS