SUB-REGION
West Africa
SIZE
36,125 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 470 recorded species
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
Black-shouldered Nightjar
Central African Hoopoe
Western Piping Hornbill
Glossy-backed Drongo
Western Square-tailed Drongo
West African Swallow
Yellow-bellied Crombec
Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler
Black-faced Quailfinch
Vinaceous Firefinch
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
Stone Partridge
Ahanta Spurfowl
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Long-tailed Nightjar
Standard-winged Nightjar
Western Plantain-eater
Guinea Turaco
Violet Turaco
Senegal Coucal
Black Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Four-banded Sandgrouse
Adamawa Turtle Dove
Vinaceous Dove
Black-billed Wood Dove
Blue-spotted Wood Dove
Bruce’s Green Pigeon
African Green Pigeon
White-spotted Flufftail
Senegal Thick-knee
Black-headed Lapwing
Palm-nut Vulture
Hooded Vulture
Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle
Western Banded Snake Eagle
Grasshopper Buzzard
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Northern White-faced Owl
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Blue-naped Mousebird
Black Scimitarbill
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Western Red-billed Hornbill
West African Pied Hornbill
Abyssinian Roller
Blue-bellied Roller
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Red-throated Bee-eater
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
Vieillot’s Barbet
Bearded Barbet
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Fine-spotted Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Brown-backed Woodpecker
Brown-necked Parrot
Senegal Parrot
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Senegal Batis
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Yellow-crowned Gonolek
White Helmetshrike
White-breasted Cuckooshrike
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
Yellow-billed Shrike
Piapiac
White-shouldered Black Tit
Western Nicator
Crested Lark
Grey-headed Bristlebill
Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul
Little Greenbul
Leaf-love
Fanti Saw-wing
Pied-winged Swallow
Red-chested Swallow
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow
Moustached Grass Warbler
Northern Crombec
Singing Cisticola
Whistling Cisticola
Winding Cisticola
Short-winged Cisticola
Black-backed Cisticola
Red-winged Prinia
Oriole Warbler
Senegal Eremomela
Northern Yellow White-eye
Brown Babbler
Blackcap Babbler
Yellow-bellied Hyliota
Lesser Blue-eared Starling
Bronze-tailed Starling
Splendid Starling
Purple Starling
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
Chestnut-bellied Starling
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
African Thrush
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Northern Black Flycatcher
Swamp Flycatcher
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
White-crowned Robin-Chat
White-fronted Black Chat
Mangrove Sunbird
Western Violet-backed Sunbird
Collared Sunbird
Pygmy Sunbird
Green-headed Sunbird
Scarlet-chested Sunbird
Olive-bellied Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Variable Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Sahel Bush Sparrow
Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
White-billed Buffalo Weaver
Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver
Speckle-fronted Weaver
Little Weaver
Olive-naped Weaver
Vitelline Masked Weaver
Black-headed Weaver
Red-headed Weaver
Red-headed Quelea
Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Grey-headed Oliveback
Lavender Waxbill
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Black-rumped Waxbill
Western Bluebill
Crimson Seedcracker
Green-winged Pytilia
Red-winged Pytilia
Red-billed Firefinch
African Firefinch
Black-bellied Firefinch
Bar-breasted Firefinch
Barka Indigobird
Wilson’s Indigobird
Cameroon Indigobird
Exclamatory Paradise Whydah
MAIN HABITATS
Islands and islets, coastal wetlands (mudflats, mangroves/tarrafes, rice polders/bolanhas and lagoons), moist savanna, semi-humid forest
BIRD AREAS
9 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Arquipélago dos Bijagós (Parque Nacional do Grupo das Ilhas de Orango) for waders/shorebirds including Eurasian Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Common Sandpiper, Common Redshank and Common Greenshank, seabirds including Brown Noddy, Slender-billed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Grey-headed Gull, Kelp Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, West African Crested Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Bridled Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Black Tern, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Red-billed Tropicbird, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Northern Gannet, Brown Booby and White-breasted Cormorant, as well as other waterbirds including Greater Flamingo, Lesser Flamingo, White-fronted Plover, Yellow-billed Stork, Saddle-billed Stork, African Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbill, Striated Heron, Grey Heron, Goliath Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Western Reef Heron, Great White Pelican, Pink-backed Pelican, Osprey and African Fish Eagle, also Denham’s Bustard, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and Buff-throated Sunbird
Ilha de João Vieira (Parque Nacional Marinho João Vieira e Poilão) for Timneh Parrot
Bolanhas around Bissau for Black Crowned Crane and waterbirds including White-faced Whistling Duck, Spur-winged Goose, Common Moorhen, Allen’s Gallinule, African Swamphen, Black Crake, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Spur-winged Lapwing, African Wattled Lapwing, Little Ringed Plover, Greater Painted-snipe, African Jacana, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Collared Pratincole, African Darter, Reed Cormorant, Glossy Ibis, Little Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Black-headed Heron, Purple Heron, Yellow-billed Egret, Black Heron and Hamerkop, as well as Western Marsh Harrier, Sand Martin, Sedge Warbler, Common Reed Warbler, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Black-winged Red Bishop, Northern Red Bishop, Western Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Plain-backed Pipit and Red-throated Pipit
Parque Natural das Lagoas de Cufada for Turati’s Boubou, also Western Crested Guineafowl and Ussher’s Flycatcher, as well as African Pygmy Goose and Lesser Jacana among other waterbirds
Rio Corubal for White-crowned Lapwing, Egyptian Plover, Rock Pratincole, White-backed Night Heron and African Pied Wagtail, also White-bibbed Swallow
Parque Nacional de Dulombi for African Finfoot, Spotted Thick-knee, White-crested Tiger Heron, African Blue Flycatcher and Willcocks’s Honeyguide, also Narina Trogon, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Black-winged Oriole, Chestnut-winged Starling and Little Green Sunbird
Parque Nacional de Boé for Forbes’s Plover, Bronze-winged Courser, Sun Lark, African Spotted Creeper, Dybowski’s Twinspot and Brown-rumped Bunting, also Brown-backed Honeybird, Marsh Tchagra, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Flappet Lark, Croaking Cisticola, Heuglin’s Wheatear and Cabanis’s Bunting
Parque Nacional de Cantanhéz for Guineo-Congolian species including Great Blue Turaco, Black-throated Coucal, Yellow-casqued Hornbill, Blue-throated Roller, White-bellied Kingfisher, Red-rumped Tinkerbird, Spotted Honeyguide, Western Oriole, Slender-billed Greenbul, Swamp Palm Bulbul, Simple Greenbul, Honeyguide Greenbul, Red-tailed Greenbul, Green Hylia, Brown Illadopsis, Puvel’s Illadopsis, White-tailed Alethe, White-browed Forest Flycatcher, Blue-billed Malimbe and Red-headed Malimbe, as well as African Goshawk, Double-toothed Barbet, Little Green Woodpecker, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, Olive Sunbird and Compact Weaver
Also Parque Natural dos Tarrafes do Rio Cacheu and Área Marinha Protegida Comunitária das Ilhas de Urok
TIMING (Oct, Mar–Apr)
The best time to visit is just after and before the rains, when it is dry
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Field guides
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014)
Sounds
African Bird Sounds Vol 2: West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis
Further reading
Guinea-Bissau by Peter Robertson in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Important Bird Areas in Guinea-Bissau/Zonas Importantes para as Aves na Guiné-Bissau by Tim Dodman, Clive Barlow, Joãozinho Sá & Peter Robertson (2004)
Land Cover and Avian Biodiversity in Rice Fields and Mangroves of West Africa by Daan Bos, Ion Grigoras & Abdoulaye Ndiaye (2006)
Waterbird Monitoring in the Bijagos Archipelago, Guinea-Bissau/Monitorizacao de Aves Aquaticas no Arquipelago dos Bijagos, Guiné-Bissau by Tim Dodman & Joãozinho Sá (2005)
The End of the East Atlantic Flyway: Waders in Guinea-Bissau, October 1992-May 1993 edited by W J Wolff (1998)
Ornithological Importance of the Coastal Wetlands of Guinea-Bissau by W Altenburg, E Wymenga & L Zwarts (1992)
Birding the Bijagós Archipelago: João Vieira, Poilão and Orango Islands, a trip report by David Karr (2018)
Birding Bissau and Biombo Regions, another trip report by David Karr (2017)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Guinea-Bissau
Instituto da Biodiversidade e das Áreas Protegidas (IBAP) is the national institution responsible for managing biodiversity and protected areas in Guinea-Bissau
Non-governmental bird or conservation organisations active in Guinea-Bissau include –
Organização para a Defesa e Desenvolvimento das Zonas Húmidas na Guiné-Bissau (OZDH)
ONG Palmeirinha
Tiniguena
Daridibó
Partenariat Régional pour la Conservation de la Zone Côtière et Marine (PRCM) en Afrique de l’Ouest
BioGuinea Foundation
Chimbo Foundation