SUB-REGION
Central Africa
SIZE
267,670 km²
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
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
Vermiculated Fishing Owl
Sjöstedt’s Barred Owlet
Bare-cheeked Trogon
Black Dwarf Hornbill
Blue-headed Bee-eater
Rosy Bee-eater
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
Sjöstedt’s Greenbul
Eastern Bearded Greenbul
White-bearded Greenbul
Xavier’s Greenbul
Red-throated Cliff Swallow
Chattering Cisticola
Dambo Cisticola | Cloud-scraping Cisticola
Forest White-eye
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
Barrow’s Bustard (B2)
Verreaux’s Turaco (B2)
Congo Pied Hornbill
Western Little Hornbill (B2)
Eastern Long-tailed Hornbill (B2)
Eastern Piping Hornbill
(Western) Grey-throated Barbet (B2)
Brown-faced Barbet (B2)
Perrin’s Bushshrike
Malbrant’s Lark (BT)
Petit’s Saw-wing (B2)
Teke Cisticola (E)
Western Buff-throated Apalis (B2)
Olive-backed Forest Robin (E)
Gabon Forest Robin (B2)
Black-chinned Quailfinch (B2)
Other taxa of interest
Hartlaub’s Duck
Latham’s Francolin
Scaly Spurfowl
Brown Nightjar
Swamp Nightjar
Black Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
Blue-headed Wood Dove
African Finfoot
Grey-throated Rail
Black-rumped Buttonquail
White-crowned Lapwing
Senegal Lapwing
African Skimmer
White-backed Night Heron
Congo Serpent Eagle
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Pel’s Fishing Owl
Maned Owl
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
White-thighed Hornbill
Black-casqued Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Bristle-nosed Barbet
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
African Piculet
Red-throated Wryneck | Rufous-necked Wryneck
Rufous-sided Broadbill
West African Batis
Gorgeous Bushshrike (viridis)
Sabine’s Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
Swamp Boubou (bicolor)
Blue Cuckooshrike
Souza’s Shrike
Shining Drongo
Grey-necked Rockfowl | Red-headed Picathartes
African Penduline Tit
Yellow-throated Nicator
Falkenstein’s Greenbul | Yellow-necked Greenbul
Red-tailed Leaflove
Red-chested Swallow (subalaris)
White-bibbed Swallow
Forest Swallow
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Tit Hylia
Tinkling Cisticola
Banded Prinia
Masked Apalis
Black-capped Apalis
Salvadori’s Eremomela
Blackcap Illadopsis
Violet-backed Hyliota
Purple-headed Starling
Red-tailed Ant Thrush
Fire-crested Alethe
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Yellow-footed Flycatcher
Rufous-tailed Palm Thrush
Mangrove Sunbird | Brown Sunbird
Reichenbach’s Sunbird
Carmelite Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Orange Weaver
Compact Weaver
Preuss’s Weaver
Blue-billed Malimbe
Western Bluebill
Black-faced Canary
MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest, coastal savanna, grasslands, miombo woodland
BIRD AREAS
Cameroon and Gabon lowlands Endemic Bird Area
Gabon-Cabinda coast Secondary Area
7 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Lopé National Park and Makokou, including Ipassa and Belinga Road, for lowland forest species
Lékoni for grasslands and miombo species
Gamba Protected Areas Complex for coastal savanna species
TIMING (Jul–Sep)
Best to travel in the dry season when access is easier and most forest birds breed (Jun–Sep)
African River Martin and grassland species breed mostly Sep–Dec, which makes Sep the best month overall
Avoid the main rains (Oct–Dec, Mar–Apr)
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 Réserve de la Lopé by Patrice Christy & William Clarke (1994)
Sounds
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis
Site guides
A Birder’s Guide to Gabon by Dave Sargeant (1993)
Further reading
Le Delta de l’Ogooué edited by Jean P Vande weghe & Tariq Stévart (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 Régions Forestières du Nord-Est du Gabon by André Brosset & Christian Erard (1986)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
UNESCO World Heritage List: Ecosystem and Relict Cultural Landscape of Lopé-Okanda and Ivindo National Park
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Gabon
Bird or conservation organisations active in Gabon include –
Organisation Écologique des Lacs et de l’Ogooué (OELO)
Brainforest
IBONGA-ACPE
ONG Akanda Nature
Centre d’Actions pour le Développement Durable et l’Environnement (CADDE)
EDZENGUI
Maison du Tourisme et de la Nature (MTN)
Aventures Sans Frontières
Right Routes
WCS Gabon
WWF Gabon
The Nature Conservancy (TNC)