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 28,051 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), including vagrants



Endemics (E)
Fernando Po Batis | Bioko Batis (B) (LC)
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 Pigeon (A)
Mountain Saw-wing (B)
Ursula’s Sunbird (B)
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
Fernando Po Swift | Bioko Swift (B sladeniae)
Verreaux’s Turaco (verreauxii)
Red-chested Goshawk (toussenelii)
Annobon Scops Owl (E A feae)
Eastern Piping Hornbill (sharpii)
Eastern Yellow-spotted Barbet (duchaillui)
Streaky-throated Barbet (flavipunctata)
Little Green Woodpecker (permista)
Johnston’s Woodpecker (B johnstoni)
Annobon Paradise Flycatcher (E A smithii)
Petit’s Saw-wing (petiti)
Cameroon Forest Warbler (1/2 B lopezi)
Western Buff-throated Apalis (rufogularis)
Volcano Sunbird (B preussi)
Other taxa of interest on Bioko, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Scarce Swift (poensis)
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Great Blue Turaco
Blue Malkoha
African Emerald Cuckoo (ESS intermedius)
Cameroon Olive Pigeon | Cameroon Pigeon
Lemon Dove (inornata)
African Green Pigeon (ESS poensis)
African Finfoot
Brown Noddy
West African Crested Tern
White-tailed Tropicbird
Cape Gannet
Western Reef Heron
African Goshawk (ESS lopezi)
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Bar-tailed Trogon
Black-casqued Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
White-bellied Kingfisher
Blue-moustached Bee-eater
Speckled Tinkerbird (ESS stellatus)
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird (ESS subsulphureus)
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (ESS poensis)
Least Honeyguide (ESS poensis)
Buff-spotted Woodpecker (ESS poensis)
Tullberg’s Woodpecker
Grey Parrot
Grey-headed Broadbill (ESS sharpei)
Chestnut Wattle-eye
Black-necked Wattle-eye
Mountain Sooty Boubou | Western Boubou (ESS poensis)
African Shrike-flycatcher
Grey Cuckooshrike (preussi)
Black-winged Oriole
Velvet-mantled Drongo
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher | Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher (ESS tricolor)
Grey-necked Rockfowl | Red-headed Picathartes
White-bellied Crested Flycatcher
Slender-billed Greenbul
Golden Greenbul
Yellow-lored Bristlebill
Western Mountain Greenbul (tephrolaema)
Red-tailed Greenbul (calurus)
Little Greenbul (ESS amadoni)
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
Plain Greenbul
Icterine Greenbul
Cameroon Olive Greenbul
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow | Preuss’s Swallow
Yellow Longbill
Grey Longbill
Green Hylia (ESS poensis)
Tit Hylia (ESS bedfordi)
Black-capped Woodland Warbler (ESS herberti)
Greater Swamp Warbler (rufescens)
Green Longtail (ESS mariae)
Black-capped Apalis
Grey Apalis (sclateri)
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Olive-green Camaroptera (ESS granti)
White-tailed Warbler (ESS lopezi)
Rufous-crowned Eremomela
African Hill Babbler (ESS claudei)
Forest White-eye
Pale-breasted Illadopsis (ESS bocagei)
Blackcap Illadopsis (ESS poensis)
Grey-chested Babbler
Splendid Starling (ESS lessoni)
Chestnut-winged Starling (fulgidus)
Waller’s Starling (preussi)
Narrow-tailed Starling
White-tailed Ant Thrush (poensis)
Fraser’s Rufous Thrush | Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush (ESS fraseri)
African Thrush (ESS poensis)
Fire-crested Alethe (castanea)
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher | African Forest Flycatcher (ocreata)
African Dusky Flycatcher (poensis)
Yellow-footed Flycatcher
Orange-breasted Forest Robin (gabonensis)
Brown-chested Alethe (compsonota)
White-bellied Robin-Chat (roberti)
Short-tailed Akalat | Alexander’s Akalat (ESS poensis)
African Stonechat (pallidigula)
Fraser’s Sunbird (ESS fraseri)
Little Green Sunbird (ESS seimundi)
Grey-chinned Sunbird
Collared Sunbird (ESS hypodila)
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird (ESS cyanolaema)
Cameroon Sunbird (ESS poensis)
Olive Sunbird (ESS obscura)
Green-throated Sunbird (ESS stangerii)
Tiny Sunbird
Bates’s Sunbird
Olive-naped Weaver
Black-billed Weaver (melanogaster)
Maxwell’s Black Weaver (ESS maxwelli)
Dark-backed Weaver | Forest Weaver (tephronotus)
Brown-capped Weaver
Red-headed Malimbe (ESS rufovelatus)
Yellow Bishop (phoenicomerus)
Shelley’s Oliveback
Green Twinspot (ESS virginiae)
Red-faced Crimsonwing (reichenovii)
White-breasted Nigrita
Grey-headed Nigrita
Pale-fronted Nigrita (ESS alexanderi)
Black-crowned Waxbill (ESS elizae)
Oriole Finch
Other taxa of interest on Annobón
African Emerald Cuckoo (insularum)
Lemon Dove (inornata)
Brown Noddy
Black Noddy
Bridled Tern
Sooty Tern
White-tailed Tropicbird
Brown Booby
Western Reef Heron
Other taxa of interest in Río Muni
Hartlaub’s Duck
Black Guineafowl
Plumed Guineafowl
Latham’s Francolin | Forest Francolin
Scaly Spurfowl
Brown Nightjar
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Bates’s Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Guinea Turaco | Green Turaco
Gabon Coucal
Black-throated Coucal (efulenensis)
Blue-headed Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
African Emerald Cuckoo (cupreus)
Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon | Bronze-naped Pigeon
Lemon Dove (inornata)
Blue-headed Wood Dove
African Green Pigeon (calvus)
African Finfoot
White-spotted Flufftail
Grey-throated Rail
Nkulengu Rail
Forbes’s Plover
White-fronted Plover
Grey Pratincole
Damara Tern
West African Crested Tern
Spot-breasted Ibis
White-crested Tiger Heron | White-crested Bittern
Western Reef Heron
Congo Serpent Eagle | Congo Snake Eagle
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Red-chested Owlet
Sjöstedt’s Barred Owlet | Sjöstedt’s Owlet
Maned Owl
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Akun Eagle-Owl
Shelley’s Eagle-Owl
Pel’s Fishing Owl
Vermiculated Fishing Owl
Bare-cheeked Trogon
Congo Pied Hornbill
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
White-thighed Hornbill
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Black-casqued Hornbill
Western Dwarf Hornbill
Eastern Long-tailed Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
White-bellied Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Blue-headed Bee-eater
Black Bee-eater
Blue-breasted Bee-eater
Rosy Bee-eater
Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet
Grey-throated Barbet (bonapartei)
Bristle-nosed Barbet
Naked-faced Barbet
Speckled Tinkerbird (flavisquamatus)
Red-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird (flavimentum)
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (leucolaimus)
Double-toothed Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Zenker’s Honeyguide
Willcocks’s Honeyguide
Least Honeyguide (exilis)
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
African Piculet
Buff-spotted Woodpecker (nivosus)
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Yellow-crested Woodpecker | Golden-crowned Woodpecker
Gabon Woodpecker
Elliot’s Woodpecker (elliotii)
Grey Parrot
Red-fronted Parrot
Red-headed Lovebird
Black-collared Lovebird
Grey-headed Broadbill (zenkeri)
Rufous-sided Broadbill
Gabon Batis | Verreaux’s Batis
West African Batis
Chestnut Wattle-eye
White-spotted Wattle-eye
Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye (graueri)
Black-necked Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Many-colored Bushshrike
Bocage’s Bushshrike | Gray-green Bushshrike
Sabine’s Puffback
Pink-footed Puffback
Red-eyed Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
Lühder’s Bushshrike
Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
African Shrike-flycatcher
Purple-throated Cuckooshrike
Blue Cuckooshrike
Mackinnon’s Shrike
Western Oriole | Western Black-headed Oriole
Black-winged Oriole
Velvet-mantled Drongo
Shining Drongo
Sharpe’s Drongo
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher
Rufous-vented Paradise Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher | Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher (neumanni)
Mackinnon’s Shrike
Grey-necked Rockfowl | Red-headed Picathartes
African Blue Flycatcher
Dusky Crested Flycatcher
Dusky Tit
Western Nicator
Yellow-throated Nicator
Slender-billed Greenbul
Golden Greenbul
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Yellow-lored Bristlebill
Pale-throated Greenbul (soror)
Spotted Greenbul
Swamp Palm Bulbul | Swamp Greenbul
Falkenstein’s Greenbul | Yellow-necked Greenbul
Simple Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Sjöstedt’s Greenbul | White-tailed Greenbul
Eastern Bearded Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul (calurus)
White-bearded Greenbul
Little Greenbul (virens)
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul | Gray Greenbul
Ansorge’s Greenbul
White-throated Greenbul
Xavier’s Greenbul
Icterine Greenbul
Square-tailed Saw-wing
Red-chested Swallow (subalaris)
White-bibbed Swallow | White-throated Blue Swallow
Forest Swallow
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow | Preuss’s Swallow
Yellow Longbill
Grey Longbill
Green Crombec
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia (prasina)
Tit Hylia (rushiae)
Uganda Woodland Warbler
Chattering Cisticola
Banded Prinia
White-chinned Prinia
Black-capped Apalis
Gosling’s Apalis
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Olive-green Camaroptera (chloronata)
Black-faced Rufous Warbler
Rufous-crowned Eremomela
Forest White-eye
Brown Illadopsis (fulvescens)
Pale-breasted Illadopsis (rufipennis)
Blackcap Illadopsis (batesi)
Violet-backed Hyliota
Purple-headed Starling
Splendid Starling (splendidus)
Chestnut-winged Starling (intermedius)
Narrow-tailed Starling
Fraser’s Rufous Thrush | Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush (rubicunda)
White-tailed Ant Thrush (poensis)
Red-tailed Ant Thrush (gabunensis)
Grey Ground Thrush (batesi)
Black-eared Ground Thrush (camaronensis)
Fire-crested Alethe (castanea)
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher | African Forest Flycatcher (ocreata)
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Olivaceous Flycatcher
Tessmann’s Flycatcher
Dusky-blue Flycatcher
Sooty Flycatcher
Yellow-footed Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher | Little Flycatcher
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Orange-breasted Forest Robin (gabonensis)
Brown-chested Alethe (compsonata)
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Lowland Akalat (cyornithopsis)
Fraser’s Sunbird (cameroonensis)
Mangrove Sunbird | Mouse-brown Sunbird
Violet-tailed Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird (minor)
Grey-chinned Sunbird
Collared Sunbird (somereni)
Reichenbach’s Sunbird
Green-headed Sunbird (cyanocephala)
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird (octaviae)
Olive Sunbird (cephaelis)
Carmelite Sunbird
Green-throated Sunbird (rubescens)
Tiny Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Bates’s Sunbird
Black-necked Weaver
Orange Weaver
Vieillot’s Black Weaver
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Maxwell’s Black Weaver (holomelas)
Preuss’s Weaver
Red-crowned Malimbe
Cassin’s Malimbe | Black-throated Malimbe
Rachel’s Malimbe
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe (rubricollis)
Red-bellied Malimbe
Crested Malimbe (malimbicus)
Woodhouse’s Antpecker
White-breasted Nigrita
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Grey-headed Nigrita
Pale-fronted Nigrita
Black-crowned Waxbill (nonnula)
Black-headed Waxbill
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Western Bluebill
Black-bellied Seedcracker
Long-legged Pipit




MAIN HABITATS
Montane forest on Bioko, lowland forest in Río Muni
BIRD AREAS
Annobón Endemic Bird Area (EBA)
Cameroon mountains EBA (Bioko)
Cameroon and Gabon lowlands EBA (Río Muni)
5 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Pico de Basilé National Park (NP) and Caldera de Luba Scientific Reserve on Bioko Island for the endemic batis and speirops
Annobón Island for the endemic white-eye
Afro-American University of Central Africa (AAUCA), Monte Alén NP and Altos de Nsork NP in Río Muni for lowland forest species
Also Estuario del Muni Nature Reserve (NR), Punta Llende NR, Río Campo NR and Monte Temelón NR
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
