SUB-REGION
West Africa
SIZE
11,300 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 580 recorded species
Birds best found in The Gambia but occurring more widely (BT)
Blue-bellied Roller
Red-chested Swallow
Lavender Waxbill
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2)
Northern White-faced Owl
Western Red-billed Hornbill
Brown-necked Parrot (fuscicollis)
Pied-winged Swallow
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
White-crowned Robin-Chat
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
White-breasted Cormorant
Red-chested Goshawk
Central African Hoopoe
Glossy-backed Drongo
Western Square-tailed Drongo
Singing Bush Lark
West African Swallow (BT)
Yellow-bellied Crombec
African Reed Warbler
Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler
Black-faced Quailfinch
Vinaceous Firefinch
Other resident taxa and breeding migrants (see also under Birding Sites)
White-faced Whistling Duck
Spur-winged Goose
Helmeted Guineafowl
Stone Partridge
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Standard-winged Nightjar
Mottled Spinetail
African Palm Swift
Little Swift
Western Plantain-eater
Violet Turaco
Black-bellied Bustard
Senegal Coucal
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Levaillant’s Cuckoo
Diederik Cuckoo | Dideric Cuckoo
Four-banded Sandgrouse
Speckled Pigeon
African Collared Dove
Mourning Collared Dove
Red-eyed Dove
Vinaceous Dove
Laughing Dove
Black-billed Wood Dove
Namaqua Dove
Bruce’s Green Pigeon
Common Moorhen | Eurasian Moorhen
Black Crake
Little Grebe
Senegal Thick-knee
Spur-winged Lapwing
Black-headed Lapwing
African Wattled Lapwing
Greater Painted-snipe
African Jacana
Yellow-billed Stork
Marabou Stork
African Darter
Reed Cormorant | Long-tailed Cormorant
African Sacred Ibis
Hadada Ibis
African Spoonbill
Little Bittern
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black Heron
Little Egret
White-backed Night Heron
Little Heron
Squacco Heron
Great Egret
Yellow-billed Egret
Western Cattle Egret
Purple Heron
Black-headed Heron
Hamerkop
Pink-backed Pelican
Black-winged Kite
Palm-nut Vulture
Hooded Vulture
Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle
Western Banded Snake Eagle | Banded Snake Eagle
Long-crested Eagle
Lizard Buzzard
Gabar Goshawk
Shikra
African Fish Eagle
Western Barn Owl
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl
Green Wood Hoopoe
African Grey Hornbill
Purple Roller | Rufous-crowned Roller
Abyssinian Roller
Broad-billed Roller
Grey-headed Kingfisher
Striped Kingfisher
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
Woodland Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
Giant Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
Swallow-tailed Bee-eater
Little Bee-eater
White-throated Bee-eater
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
Vieillot’s Barbet
Bearded Barbet
Lesser Honeyguide
Greater Honeyguide
Golden-tailed Woodpecker
Fine-spotted Woodpecker
Cardinal Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Grey Kestrel
Red-necked Falcon
African Hobby
Senegal Parrot
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Senegal Batis
Brown-throated Wattle-eye | Common Wattle-eye
Grey-headed Bushshrike
Black-crowned Tchagra
Northern Puffback
Yellow-crowned Gonolek
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
African Golden Oriole
African Paradise Flycatcher
Yellow-billed Shrike
Piapiac
Pied Crow
Yellow Penduline Tit
Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark
Common Bulbul
Fanti Saw-wing
Wire-tailed Swallow
Red-breasted Swallow
Mosque Swallow
Northern Crombec
Singing Cisticola
Whistling Cisticola
Winding Cisticola
Short-winged Cisticola | Siffling Cisticola
Rufous Cisticola
Zitting Cisticola
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Red-winged Prinia
Oriole Warbler | Moho
Senegal Eremomela
Northern Yellow White-eye
Brown Babbler
Blackcap Babbler
Yellow-bellied Hyliota
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Lesser Blue-eared Starling
Bronze-tailed Starling
Purple Starling
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Northern Black Flycatcher
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Western Violet-backed Sunbird
Pygmy Sunbird
Green-headed Sunbird
Scarlet-chested Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Variable Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
White-billed Buffalo Weaver
Little Weaver
Heuglin’s Masked Weaver
Vitelline Masked Weaver
Village Weaver
Black-headed Weaver
Red-billed Quelea
Yellow-crowned Bishop
Black-winged Red Bishop
Northern Red Bishop
Bronze Mannikin
African Silverbill
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Black-rumped Waxbill
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Red-billed Firefinch
Village Indigobird
Pin-tailed Whydah
Plain-backed Pipit
Yellow-fronted Canary
MAIN HABITATS
Savanna woodland, gallery forest, mangroves, wetlands
BIRD AREAS
14 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Kartong Wetland and Coast, Tanji Bird Reserve, Cape Point, Kotu Creek and Pirang Ponds for waterbirds including White-fronted Plover, Grey-headed Gull, Caspian Tern, West African Crested Tern, Little Tern and Western Reef Heron, also Saddle-billed Stork, as well as Crested Lark, also Black-backed Cisticola and Yellow-throated Longclaw
Pirang-Bonto Forest, Farasuto Forest, Abuko Nature Reserve, Brufut Woods and Gunjur-Konoto Forest for Ahanta Spurfowl, Guinea Turaco, Blue Malkoha, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, African Green Pigeon, White-spotted Flufftail, African Goshawk (macroscelides), African Wood Owl, West African Pied Hornbill, African Pygmy Kingfisher, Spotted Honeyguide, Buff-spotted Woodpecker, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Grey-headed Bristlebill, Little Greenbul, Leaf-love, Green Crombec (flaviventris), Green Hylia, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Capuchin Babbler (atripennis), Splendid Starling, African Thrush, Collared Sunbird, Olive-naped Weaver and Western Bluebill, also Red-thighed Sparrowhawk, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird and Western Nicator
Tujereng Woods for Chestnut-bellied Starling
Marakissa Woods for White-breasted Cuckooshrike
Bintang Creek for Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Kampanti Bridge for raptors including African Harrier-Hawk, White-backed Vulture, Rüppell’s Vulture, Brown Snake Eagle, Martial Eagle, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Tawny Eagle, African Hawk-Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Black Kite and Yellow-billed Kite
Tendaba Camp and Kiang West National Park (NP) for savanna woodland species including Bronze-winged Courser, White-headed Vulture, Bateleur, Grasshopper Buzzard, African Scops Owl, Black Scimitarbill, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, Brown-backed Woodpecker, Brubru, White-crested Helmetshrike, White-shouldered Black Tit, Dorst’s Cisticola, Pale Flycatcher, White-fronted Black Chat, Sahel Bush Sparrow, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Red-winged Pytilia, White-rumped Seedeater and Brown-rumped Bunting
Bao Bolong Wetland Reserve for waterbirds including African Woolly-necked Stork and Goliath Heron, also White-crested Tiger Heron, as well as African Blue Flycatcher and Mangrove Sunbird, also Pel’s Fishing Owl
North Bank for White-bellied Bustard, Savile’s Bustard, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Black Crowned Crane, Common Buttonquail, Spotted Thick-knee, Temminck’s Courser, Flappet Lark and Sahel Paradise Whydah, also Quail-plover and Sun Lark
Central River (Dalaba, Jakau-ur, N’Jau, Panchang and Kuntaur Wetlands, River Gambia NP, Jakhaly Rice Fields, Janjangbureh area, Kunkilling Forest Park and Bansang Quarry) for African Pygmy Goose, African Finfoot, Lesser Moorhen and Collared Pratincole, also White-crowned Lapwing and Lesser Jacana, among other waterbirds, as well as Black Coucal, Adamawa Turtle Dove, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Red-throated Bee-eater, African Green Bee-eater, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul, Red-faced Cisticola, Croaking Cisticola, Swamp Flycatcher, Anteater Chat, Sudan Golden Sparrow, Cut-throat Finch, Bar-breasted Firefinch, Exclamatory Paradise Whydah and Gosling’s Bunting, also Greater Swamp Warbler, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Crimson Seedcracker, Green-winged Pytilia and Wilson’s Indigobird
Upper River (Basse Santa Su) for Egyptian Plover, also White-throated Francolin and Denham’s Bustard
TIMING (Nov, Mar–Apr)
Probably best to go in the dry season when site access is best (Nov–May)
Avoid the main rains (Jul–Sep)
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Field guides
Birds of Senegal and The Gambia by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2023)
Birds of The Gambia and Senegal by Clive Barlow & Tim Wacher (2010)
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014)
A Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of The Gambia & West Africa by Marcelina Silva, Bob & Cees Scholtz (2004)
Field Guide to Wildlife of The Gambia by David Penney (2012)
Sounds
Bird Song of the Gambia and Senegal: an Aid to Identification by Clive Barlow, John Hammick & Pat Sellar
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis
Site guides
Finding Birds in The Gambia by Dave Gosney (2019)
Birding in Tanji Bird Reserve and Bijol Island, The Gambia by Anne Nason (1998)
A Birdwatchers’ Guide to The Gambia by Rod Ward (1994)
Further reading
The Gambia by Paul Robinson 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 de Sénégambie: Notices et Cartes de Distribution by Gérard J Morel & Marie-Yvonne Morel (1990)
Birds of The Gambia: an Annotated Checklist by M E J Gore (1990)
The Birds of The Gambia: an Annotated Checklist and Guide to Localities by Jörn Vestergaard Jensen & Jens Kirkeby (1980)
Land Cover and Avian Biodiversity in Rice Fields and Mangroves of West Africa by Daan Bos, Ion Grigoras & Abdoulaye Ndiaye (2006)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Birds of The Gambia
Gambia Birdwatching
Babu’s Best Gambia Birding
Farasuto Forest Community Nature Reserve
Morgan Kunda Lodge
Blogs
The Gambia Experience Birdwatching Blog
Facebook groups
Gambia and Senegal Birding is a group created by The Gambia and Senegal Bird Guide Association to encourage birders, photographers and nature lovers who are traveling to The Gambia and Senegal to share their photos and videos of birds, sightings and trip reports
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in The Gambia
Bird or conservation organisations active in The Gambia include –
Kartong Bird Observatory
West African Bird Study Association (WABSA)
Bird Watchers’ Association, The Gambia (BWA)
Makasutu Wildlife Trust (MWT)
Partenariat Régional pour la Conservation de la Zone Côtière et Marine (PRCM) en Afrique de l’Ouest