SUB-REGION
Central Africa
SIZE
267,667 kmĀ²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 690 recorded species
Birds best found in Gabon but occurring more widely (BT)
Black Guineafowl
Plumed Guineafowl
Bates’s Nightjar
Forbes’s Plover
Spot-breasted Ibis
White-crested Tiger Heron
Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk
Black-headed Bee-eater
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike
African River Martin
Dja River Scrub Warbler
Gosling’s Apalis
Grey Ground Thrush
Olive-backed Forest Robin
Congo Moor Chat
Violet-tailed Sunbird
Black-chinned Weaver
Loango Weaver
Red-crowned Malimbe
Cassin’s Malimbe
Red-bellied Malimbe
Black-headed Waxbill
Black-bellied Seedcracker
Long-legged Pipit
Short-tailed Pipit
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2)
Finsch’s Francolin
Bates’s Swift
Gabon Coucal
Grey Pratincole
Long-tailed Hawk
Sjƶstedt’s Barred Owlet
Vermiculated Fishing Owl
Bare-cheeked Trogon
Western Dwarf Hornbill
Eastern Long-tailed Hornbill
Blue-headed Bee-eater
Rosy Bee-eater
Grey-throated Barbet (bonapartei)
Gabon Woodpecker
Grey-headed Broadbill
Angola Batis
Gabon Batis
White-spotted Wattle-eye
Black-necked Wattle-eye
Red-eyed Puffback
Eastern Wattled Cuckooshrike
Rufous-vented Paradise Flycatcher
Bates’s Paradise Flycatcher
Black-collared Bulbul
Yellow-lored Bristlebill
Sjƶstedt’s Greenbul
Eastern Bearded Greenbul
White-bearded Greenbul
Xavier’s Greenbul
Red-throated Cliff Swallow
Chattering Cisticola
Dambo Cisticola
Forest White-eye
Orange-breasted Forest Robin
Yellow-breasted Forest Robin
Bates’s Sunbird
Yellow-capped Weaver
Rachel’s Malimbe
Woodhouse’s Antpecker
Pale-fronted Nigrita
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Cranch’s Spurfowl
Verreaux’s Turaco (B2)
Barrow’s Bustard (B2)
Eastern Piping Hornbill
Eastern Yellow-spotted Barbet
Streaky-throated Barbet
Brown-faced Barbet (B2)
Thick-billed Honeyguide
West African Pitta
Perrin’s Bushshrike
Clancey’s Drongo
Petit’s Saw-wing (B2)
African Reed Warbler
“Teke” Cisticola (BT)
Western Buff-throated Apalis (B2)
Salvadori’s Eremomela
Gabon Forest Robin (B2)
Black-chinned Quailfinch (B2)
Three-streaked Bunting
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
Hartlaub’s Duck
African Pygmy Goose
Latham’s Francolin
Scaly Spurfowl
Brown Nightjar
Swamp Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
Pennant-winged Nightjar
Black Spinetail
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Horus Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Ross’s Turaco
Guinea Turaco
Black-throated Coucal
Black Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Thick-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
African Emerald Cuckoo
Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Black Cuckoo
Red-chested Cuckoo
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
Lemon Dove
Tambourine Dove
Blue-headed Wood Dove
African Finfoot
White-spotted Flufftail
Buff-spotted Flufftail
Red-chested Flufftail
Chestnut-headed Flufftail
Streaky-breasted Flufftail
Grey-throated Rail
African Rail
African Crake
Lesser Moorhen
Allen’s Gallinule
Nkulengu Rail
Little Grebe
White-crowned Lapwing
Rock Pratincole
Olive Ibis
African Cuckoo-Hawk
Congo Serpent Eagle
Bat Hawk
Crowned Eagle
Long-crested Eagle
Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Red-chested Goshawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Black Sparrowhawk
Red-chested Owlet (medje)
Sandy Scops Owl
Marsh Owl
Maned Owl
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Akun Eagle-Owl
Shelley’s Eagle-Owl
Pel’s Fishing Owl
African Wood Owl
Speckled Mousebird
Narina Trogon
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
White-thighed Hornbill
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Black-casqued Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
Broad-billed Roller
Grey-headed Kingfisher
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
White-bellied Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Black Bee-eater
Little Bee-eater
White-fronted Bee-eater
White-throated Bee-eater
Eastern Yellow-billed Barbet
Bristle-nosed Barbet
Naked-faced Barbet
Red-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
Cassin’s Honeybird
Zenker’s Honeyguide
Willcocks’s Honeyguide
Least Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
African Piculet
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Little Green Woodpecker (permista)
Yellow-crested Woodpecker
Elliot’s Woodpecker
Red-fronted Parrot
Red-headed Lovebird
Black-collared Lovebird
Rufous-sided Broadbill
African Broadbill
Green-breasted Pitta
West African Batis
Chestnut Wattle-eye
Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye
Many-colored Bushshrike
Bocage’s Bushshrike
Brown-crowned Tchagra
Sabine’s Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
LĆ¼hder’s Bushshrike
African Shrike-flycatcher
Purple-throated Cuckooshrike
Blue Cuckooshrike
Western Oriole
Black-winged Oriole
Velvet-mantled Drongo
Shining Drongo
Sharpe’s Drongo
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
African Paradise Flycatcher
Mackinnon’s Shrike
Northern Fiscal
Grey-necked Rockfowl
African Blue Flycatcher
Dusky Crested Flycatcher
Dusky Tit
Forest Penduline Tit
Western Nicator
Yellow-throated Nicator
Slender-billed Greenbul
Golden Greenbul
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Pale-throated Greenbul
Spotted Greenbul
Falkenstein’s Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul
Ansorge’s Greenbul
White-throated Greenbul
Icterine Greenbul
Leaf-love
Dark-capped Bulbul
Square-tailed Saw-wing
Angola Swallow
Red-chested Swallow
White-bibbed Swallow
Wire-tailed Swallow
Forest Swallow
Mosque Swallow
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow
South African Cliff Swallow
Yellow Longbill
Grey Longbill
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia
Tit Hylia
Uganda Woodland Warbler
Greater Swamp Warbler
Red-faced Cisticola
Whistling Cisticola
Winding Cisticola
Croaking Cisticola
Short-winged Cisticola
Pectoral-patch Cisticola
Banded Prinia
White-chinned Prinia
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Lowland Masked Apalis
Black-throated Apalis
Black-capped Apalis
Grey Apalis
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Olive-green Camaroptera
Black-faced Rufous Warbler
Rufous-crowned Eremomela
Brown Illadopsis
Pale-breasted Illadopsis
Blackcap Illadopsis
Violet-backed Hyliota
Wattled Starling
Purple-headed Starling
Chestnut-winged Starling
Narrow-tailed Starling
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Fraser’s Rufous Thrush
White-tailed Ant Thrush
Red-tailed Ant Thrush
Black-eared Ground Thrush
Fire-crested Alethe
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Olivaceous Flycatcher
Ashy Flycatcher
Dusky-blue Flycatcher
Sooty Flycatcher
Yellow-footed Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Brown-chested Alethe
White-browed Robin-Chat
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Lowland Akalat
African Stonechat
Fraser’s Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird
Grey-chinned Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Green-throated Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Orange-tufted Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Thick-billed Weaver
Spectacled Weaver
Orange Weaver
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Maxwell’s Black Weaver
Compact Weaver
Dark-backed Weaver
Preuss’s Weaver
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Red-headed Quelea
Yellow-crowned Bishop
Black-winged Red Bishop
Yellow-mantled Widowbird
White-winged Widowbird
Magpie Mannikin
Green Twinspot
White-breasted Nigrita
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Grey-headed Nigrita
Black-crowned Waxbill
Common Waxbill (occidentalis)
Western Bluebill
Mountain Wagtail
African Pied Wagtail
Black-faced Canary
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest, coastal savanna, grasslands
BIRD AREAS
Cameroon and Gabon lowlands Endemic Bird Area
Gabon-Cabinda coast Secondary Area
7 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
LopƩ National Park (NP), Ivindo NP including Ipassa-Makokou Biosphere Reserve and MinkƩbƩ NP for lowland forest species
Akanda NP, Libreville area and Pongara NP for Rosy Bee-eater, Rufous-vented Paradise Flycatcher, Black Saw-wing (petiti), Chattering Cisticola and Long-legged Pipit, Lesser Flamingo, White-fronted Plover, Damara Tern, West African Crested Tern and Western Reef Heron among other waterbirds, as well as more widespread and common birds including Square-tailed Nightjar, Mottled Spinetail, African Palm Swift, Little Swift, Senegal Coucal, Blue-headed Coucal, Diederik Cuckoo, Klaas’s Cuckoo, Red-eyed Dove, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, African Green Pigeon, Common Moorhen, Black Crake, Water Thick-knee, Senegal Lapwing, African Jacana, Little Tern (guineae), Caspian Tern, African Woolly-necked Stork, Reed Cormorant, African Sacred Ibis, Hadada Ibis, Black-crowned Night Heron, Little Egret, Striated Heron, Great Egret, Western Cattle Egret, Grey Heron, Hamerkop, Pink-backed Pelican, Osprey, African Harrier-Hawk, Palm-nut Vulture, Lizard Buzzard, Yellow-billed Kite, Red-necked Buzzard, Western Barn Owl, Congo Pied Hornbill, Piping Hornbill (sharpii), Woodland Kingfisher, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Blue-breasted Bee-eater, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Double-toothed Barbet, Cardinal Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Grey Parrot, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, Pied Crow, Swamp Palm Bulbul, Simple Greenbul, Little Greenbul, Common Bulbul, Grey-rumped Swallow, Ethiopian Swallow, Lesser Striped Swallow, Red-breasted Swallow, Green Crombec, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Splendid Starling, African Thrush, Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat, Collared Sunbird, Reichenbach’s Sunbird, Green-headed Sunbird, Olive Sunbird, Carmelite Sunbird, Olive-bellied Sunbird, Copper Sunbird, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Black-necked Weaver, Village Weaver (bohndorffi), Vieillot’s Black Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Black-and-white Mannikin, Orange-cheeked Waxbill, Pin-tailed Whydah and Yellow-throated Longclaw
Gamba Protected Areas Complex including Loango NP and SettĆ© Cama Ramsar Site for Rosy Bee-eater, African River Martin and Loango Weaver, White-faced Whistling Duck, Three-banded Plover, African Skimmer, Yellow-billed Stork, African Darter, White-breasted Cormorant, African Spoonbill, Little Bittern, White-backed Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Yellow-billed Egret, Purple Heron and Goliath Heron among other waterbirds, as well as Kittlitz’s Plover, African Fish Eagle, Swamp Boubou, Rufous-tailed Palm Thrush, Mangrove Sunbird, Slender-billed Weaver, Village Weaver (collaris) and Common Waxbill (rubriventris), also Laughing Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood Dove, Namaqua Dove, Pale-olive Greenbul and Red-capped Robin-Chat
LĆ©koni area and BatĆ©kĆ© Plateaux NP for Finsch’s Francolin, White-bellied Bustard (mackenziei), Black-backed Barbet (minor), Angola Batis, Black-collared Bulbul, Red-throated Cliff Swallow, Dambo Cisticola (kasai), Teke Cisticola (undescribed form), Congo Moor Chat, Black-chinned Weaver and Short-tailed Pipit (leggei), as well as Helmeted Guineafowl (galeatus), Coqui Francolin, Red-necked Spurfowl (cranchii), Fiery-necked Nightjar (shelleyi), Mottled Swift, White-rumped Swift, Denham’s Bustard, Black-bellied Bustard, African Cuckoo, Ring-necked Dove (tropica), Common Buttonquail, Black-rumped Buttonquail, Temminck’s Courser, Black-winged Kite, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Bateleur, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Southern White-faced Owl, Spotted Eagle-Owl, Black Scimitarbill (anchietae), Lilac-breasted Roller, Brown-hooded Kingfisher (prentissgrayi), Striped Kingfisher, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Greater Honeyguide, Red-throated Wryneck, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Grey Kestrel, Western Black-headed Batis (congoensis), Chinspot Batis (pintoi), Gorgeous Bushshrike (viridis), Black-crowned Tchagra (armenus), Northern Puffback (congicus), Petit’s Cuckooshrike, Fork-tailed Drongo (apivorus), Souza’s Shrike, White-winged Black Tit (insignis), Grey Penduline Tit (ansorgei), Flappet Lark (schoutedeni), Plains Lark (malbranti), Banded Martin (parvula), Red-capped Crombec (rufigenis), African Yellow Warbler, Rattling Cisticola (fortis), Tinkling Cisticola (ansorgei), Neddicky (dispar), Yellow-bellied Eremomela (salvadoriiĀ ), Green-capped Eremomela (congensis), Yellow-bellied Hyliota (barbozae), Violet-backed Starling (verreauxi), White-browed Scrub Robin (munda), Pale Flycatcher (murinus), Sooty Chat, Western Violet-backed Sunbird (angolensis), Amethyst Sunbird (deminuta), Purple-banded Sunbird, Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow (rufitergum), Marsh Widowbird (humeralis), Fawn-breasted Waxbill (ruthae), Locust Finch (uelensis), Cuckoo-finch, Wood Pipit (schoutedeni), Plain-backed Pipit (bohndorffi), Black-throated Canary (lwenarum), Yellow-fronted Canary (tando) and Cabanis’s Bunting (cognominata)
NgouniĆ© and Nyanga regions for African Grey Woodpecker, Marsh Tchagra, Moustached Grass Warbler, Fan-tailed Grassbird, Arrow-marked Babbler, Variable Sunbird, Holub’s Golden Weaver, Red-collared Widowbird, Grey Waxbill, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Brown Twinspot and African Firefinch
Also Raponda Walker Arboretum, Moukalaba-Doudou NP, Mayumba NP, Monts Birougou NP, Waka NP, Monts de Cristal NP, Mwagna NP and Wonga WonguƩ Presidential Reserve
TIMING (JulāSep)
Best to travel in the dry season when access is easier and most forest birds breed (JunāSep)
African River Martin and grassland species breed mostly SepāDec, which makes Sep the best month overall
Avoid the main rains (OctāDec, MarāApr)
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Field guides
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014)
Guide des Oiseaux de la RƩserve de la LopƩ by Patrice Christy & William Clarke (1994)
Sounds
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis
Site guides
Birder’s Guide to Gabon: 1988-1992 by Dave Sargeant (1992)
Further reading
Le Delta de l’OgoouĆ© edited by Jean P Vande weghe & Tariq StĆ©vart (2017)
Gabon by Patrice Christy in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Les Oiseaux d’Afrique Centrale: Liste Faunistique by Patrice Christy & Jean Pierre Vande weghe (1999)
Coastal Waterbirds in Gabon: Winter 1992 edited by Frans J Schepers & Eric C L Marteijn (1993)
Ecology and Behaviour of Flycatchers in North-Eastern Gabon by Christian Erard (1987)
Les Oiseaux des RĆ©gions ForestiĆØres du Nord-Est du Gabon by AndrĆ© Brosset & Christian Erard (1986)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
BiodiversitƩ du Gabon
UNESCO World Heritage List: Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of LopƩ-Okanda and Ivindo National Park
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Gabon
Bird or conservation organisations active in Gabon include –
Organisation Ćcologique des Lacs et de lāOgoouĆ© (OELO)
Brainforest
Ibonga-ACPE
ONG Akanda Nature
Aventures Sans FrontiĆØres (ASF)
Association Culture Nature Edzengui (ACNE)
Maison du Tourisme et de la Nature (MTN)
Centre dāActions pour le DĆ©veloppement Durable et lāEnvironnement (CADDE)
Fondation LƩkƩdi BiodiversitƩ
Right Routes
WCS Gabon
WWF-Gabon
The Nature Conservancy (TNC)