SUB-REGION
West Africa
SIZE
111,369 kmĀ²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 590 recorded species
Birds best found in Liberia but occurring more widely (BT), including Upper Guinea endemics (UGE)
Sierra Leone Prinia | White-eyed Prinia (UGE)
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2), including UGE
Shelley’s Eagle-Owl
Rufous Fishing Owl (UGE)
Black-headed Rufous Warbler | Black-capped Rufous Warbler (UGE)
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
EtchĆ©copar’sĀ Owlet
Whistling Long-tailed Cuckoo
Western Piping Hornbill
Western Yellow-spotted Barbet
Thick-billed Honeyguide
West African Pitta
Rufous-bellied Wattle-eye
Fanti Drongo
Western Square-tailed Drongo
West African Swallow
Yellow-bellied Crombec
Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler
Black-faced Quailfinch
Bannerman’s Pipit
More Guineo-Congolian endemics or near-endemics, including more UGE, occurring in Liberia
Hartlaub’s Duck
White-breasted Guineafowl (UGE)
Latham’s Francolin | Forest Francolin
Ahanta Spurfowl
Brown Nightjar
Black Spinetail
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Bates’s Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Yellow-billed Turaco
Guinea Turaco | Green Turaco
Black-throated Coucal
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon | Bronze-naped Pigeon
Blue-headed Wood Dove
White-spotted Flufftail
Grey-throated Rail
Nkulengu Rail
Spot-breasted Ibis
White-crested Tiger Heron
Congo Serpent Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk | Red-legged Sparrowhawk
Red-chested Owlet
Sandy Scops Owl
Maned Owl
Akun Eagle-Owl
Forest Wood Hoopoe | Forest Scimitarbill
West African Pied Hornbill
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
Brown-cheeked Hornbill (UGE)
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Black-casqued Hornbill
Yellow-casqued Hornbill
Western Dwarf Hornbill | Western Little Hornbill
Western Long-tailed Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
White-bellied Kingfisher
Blue-moustached Bee-eater
Black Bee-eater
Bristle-nosed Barbet
Naked-faced Barbet
Speckled Tinkerbird
Red-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
Hairy-breasted Barbet
Western Yellow-billed Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Yellow-footed Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
African Piculet
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Little Green Woodpecker
Fire-bellied Woodpecker
Melancholy Woodpecker
Timneh Parrot
Black-collared Lovebird
Rufous-sided Broadbill
West African Batis
West African Wattle-eye
Red-cheeked Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Many-colored Bushshrike
Sabine’s Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
Red-billed Helmetshrike
African Shrike-flycatcher
Western Wattled Cuckooshrike | Ghana Cuckooshrike (UGE)
Blue Cuckooshrike
Western Oriole | Western Black-headed Oriole
Black-winged Oriole
Shining Drongo
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher | Western Crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher | Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher
White-necked Rockfowl | Yellow-headed Picathartes (UGE)
Dusky Crested Flycatcher
Dusky Tit
Forest Penduline Tit
Western Nicator
Golden Greenbul
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Green-tailed Bristlebill (UGE)
Grey-headed Bristlebill
Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul
Spotted Greenbul
Swamp Palm Bulbul | Swamp Greenbul
Simple Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Western Bearded Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul
Yellow-bearded Greenbul (UGE)
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul | Gray Greenbul
Ansorge’s Greenbul
White-throated Greenbul
Icterine Greenbul
Leaf-love
Baumann’s Olive Greenbul | Baumann’s Greenbul
Square-tailed Saw-wing
White-bibbed Swallow | White-throated Blue Swallow
Kemp’s Longbill
Grey Longbill
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia
Tit Hylia
Chattering Cisticola
Black-capped Apalis
Sharpe’s Apalis (UGE)
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Olive-green Camaroptera
Rufous-crowned Eremomela
Brown Illadopsis
Pale-breasted Illadopsis
Blackcap Illadopsis
Puvel’s Illadopsis
Rufous-winged Illadopsis (UGE)
Violet-backed Hyliota
Copper-tailed Starling (UGE)
Chestnut-winged Starling
Narrow-tailed Starling
Finsch’s Rufous Thrush | Finsch’s Flycatcher-Thrush
White-tailed Ant Thrush
Grey Ground Thrush
White-tailed Alethe
Forest Scrub Robin
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher | African Forest Flycatcher
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Olivaceous Flycatcher
Tessmann’s Flycatcher
Nimba Flycatcher (UGE)
Dusky-blue Flycatcher
Ussher’s Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher | Little Flycatcher
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Orange-breasted Forest Robin
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Lowland Akalat
Fraser’s Sunbird
Mangrove Sunbird | Mouse-brown Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird
Yellow-chinned Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Buff-throated Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Chestnut-and-black Weaver
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Maxwell’s Black Weaver
Preuss’s Weaver
Gola Malimbe | Ballman’s Malimbe (UGE)
Red-vented Malimbe
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Red-fronted Antpecker
White-breasted Nigrita
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Pale-fronted Nigrita
Western Bluebill
Crimson Seedcracker
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
African Pygmy Goose
Helmeted Guineafowl
Western Crested Guineafowl
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
Standard-winged Nightjar
African Black Swift | African Swift
Western Plantain-eater
Violet Turaco
Senegal Coucal
Blue-headed Coucal
Black Coucal
Blue Malkoha | Western Yellowbill
Thick-billed Cuckoo
African Emerald Cuckoo
Lemon Dove
Vinaceous Dove
Blue-spotted Wood Dove
Tambourine Dove
African Green Pigeon
African Finfoot
Buff-spotted Flufftail
Red-chested Flufftail
African Crake
African Swamphen
Senegal Thick-knee
White-crowned Lapwing
Senegal Lapwing
Forbes’s Plover
Egyptian Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Rock Pratincole
Olive Ibis
Palm-nut Vulture
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Red-necked Buzzard
African Scops Owl
Northern White-faced Owl
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Pel’s Fishing Owl
African Wood Owl
Narina Trogon
White-headed Wood Hoopoe
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Little Bee-eater
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Vieillot’s Barbet
Double-toothed Barbet
Willcocks’s Honeyguide
African Grey Woodpecker
Grey Kestrel
Red-fronted Parrot
Brown-necked Parrot
Rose-ringed Parakeet
African Broadbill
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Lagden’s Bushshrike
Marsh Tchagra
Brown-crowned Tchagra
Black-crowned Tchagra
Northern Puffback
Tropical Boubou
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher | Vanga Flycatcher
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
Purple-throated Cuckooshrike
African Golden Oriole
Northern Fiscal
African Paradise Flycatcher
Highland Lark
Slender-billed Greenbul
Little Greenbul
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
Fanti Saw-wing
Red-throated Rock Martin
Ethiopian Swallow
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow | Preuss’s Swallow
Moustached Grass Warbler
Red-faced Cisticola
Singing Cisticola
Whistling Cisticola
Rock-loving Cisticola
Winding Cisticola
Croaking Cisticola
Short-winged Cisticola | Siffling Cisticola
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Red-winged Prinia
Oriole Warbler
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Northern Yellow White-eye
Splendid Starling
African Thrush
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Ashy Flycatcher
Gambaga Flycatcher
Brown-chested Alethe
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Grey-winged Robin-Chat
African Stonechat
Collared Sunbird
Green-headed Sunbird
Olive Sunbird
Olive-bellied Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Variable Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
Thick-billed Weaver | Grosbeak Weaver
Olive-naped Weaver
Village Weaver
Compact Weaver
Red-headed Quelea
Black-winged Red Bishop
Northern Red Bishop
Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Red-collared Widowbird
Bronze Mannikin
Magpie Mannikin
Black-and-white Mannikin
Green Twinspot | Green-backed Twinspot
Grey-headed Nigrita
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Common Waxbill
Orange-breasted Waxbill | Zebra Waxbill
Red-billed Firefinch
African Firefinch | Blue-billed Firefinch
Bar-breasted Firefinch
Village Indigobird
Pin-tailed Whydah
Mountain Wagtail
Yellow-throated Longclaw
Plain-backed Pipit
Yellow-fronted Canary
Gosling’s Bunting
National bird
Common Bulbul | Pepper Bird
MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest
BIRD AREAS
Upper Guinea forests Endemic Bird Area
9 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Gola Forest National Park (NP), Sapo NP, Grebo-Krahn NP, East Nimba Nature Reserve and Wulki Farms for lowland forest species including Upper Guinea endemics
Coast (Lake Piso Multiple Sustainable Use Reserve and Marshall Wetlands) for waterbirds including Water Thick-knee, Collared Pratincole, West African Crested Tern and Western Reef Heron, as well as Swamp Nightjar, Reichenbach’s Sunbird, Carmelite Sunbird and Orange Weaver
Also Grand Kru-River Gee Proposed Protected Area (PPA), Cestos-Senkwehn PPA, Gbi PPA, Zwedru PPA, Margibi Mangrove PPA, Bong Mountain PPA, Kpo Mountains PPA, Foya PPA, Wologizi PPA and Wonegisi PPA
TIMING (DecāJan, Apr)
Best during the dry season (OctāApr) when access is easier and most forest birds breed
Avoid the main rains (MayāSep)
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
Atlases
Liberian Bird Atlas, a member of the African Bird Atlas Project
Further reading
Birds of Liberia by Wulf Gatter (2013)
Le Peuplement Animal du Mont Nimba: GuinĆ©e, CĆ“te d’Ivoire, Liberia edited by Maxime Lamotte & Roger Roy (2003)
Liberia 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)
The Status and Conservation of Threatened Birds in the Upper Guinea Forest by Gary Allport (1991)
Coastal Wetlands of Liberia: Their Importance for Wintering Waterbirds by Wulf Gatter (1988)
The Birds of Mount Nimba, Liberia by Peter R Colston & Kai Curry-Lindahl (1986)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, The Pepper Bird (SCNL Newsletter), etc.
Websites
Liberia Birder
Liberia Tours – Ashanti African Tours
Facebook groups
Liberian Bird Atlas is the official Facebook group for this project
ORGANISATIONS
The BirdLife Partner in Liberia is the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia (SCNL)
The Environmental Knowledge Management System (EKMS) provides free and open access to information from key government and other institutions in Liberia relating to the implementation of the Rio Conventions
EKMS also provides a platform for government institutions and other contributors to share latest blogs, news and stories related to the Rio Conventions implementation process
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Liberia include –
The Environmental Foundation for Africa (EFA)
The Nature Compact
Nimba Nature and Environment Initiative
Piso Conservation Forum
Bird Watch Club of Liberia
Monrovia Bird Watching Club
Fendell Bird Club
FTI Bird Club
Green Stewards Inc (GSI)
Volunteers for Sustainable Development in Africa (VOSIEDA)
Fauna & Flora International (FFI)
Conservation International, Liberia