Liberia

SUB-REGION
West Africa

SIZE
111,370 km²

BIRDS AND BIRDING

SPECIES
Diversity

Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 590 recorded species

Black-headed Rufous Warbler (David Hodinott)
Long-tailed Hawk (Mark Languy)
Grey Ground Thrush (Dave Hoddinott)

Birds best found in Liberia but occurring more widely (BT), including Upper Guinea endemics (UGE)
Sierra Leone 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
Etchécopar’s Owlet
Western Piping Hornbill
Western Little Hornbill
Western Long-tailed Hornbill
Western Yellow-spotted Barbet
Western Yellow-billed Barbet
West African Pitta
Rufous-bellied Wattle-eye
Fanti Drongo
Western Square-tailed Drongo
Yellow-bellied Crombec
Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler
Black-faced Quailfinch
Bannerman’s Pipit

Other taxa of interest, including more UGE
Hartlaub’s Duck
African Pygmy Goose
White-breasted Guineafowl (UGE)
Western Crested Guineafowl
Latham’s Francolin | Forest Francolin
Ahanta Spurfowl
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Brown Nightjar
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
Standard-winged Nightjar
Black Spinetail
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Bates’s Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Western Plantain-eater
Violet Turaco
Yellow-billed Turaco
Guinea Turaco | Green Turaco
Black-throated Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon | Bronze-naped Pigeon
Blue-headed Wood Dove
African Finfoot
White-spotted Flufftail
Grey-throated Rail
Nkulengu Rail
Forbes’s Plover
Egyptian Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Rock Pratincole
West African Crested Tern
Olive Ibis
Spot-breasted Ibis
White-crested Tiger Heron | White-crested Bittern
Western Reef Heron
Congo Serpent Eagle
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Red-chested Owlet
Sandy Scops Owl
Maned Owl
Fraser’s Eagle-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
Blue-throated Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
White-bellied Kingfisher
Shining-blue 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
Vieillot’s Barbet
Double-toothed Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Yellow-footed Honeyguide
Willcock’s Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
African Piculet
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Little Green Woodpecker
Fire-bellied Woodpecker
Melancholy Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Timneh Parrot
Red-fronted Parrot
Brown-necked Parrot
Black-collared Lovebird
Rufous-sided Broadbill
West African Batis
West African Wattle-eye
Red-cheeked Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Lagden’s Bushshrike
Many-colored Bushshrike
Marsh Tchagra
Sabine’s Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
Red-billed Helmetshrike
African Shrike-flycatcher
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
Purple-throated Cuckooshrike
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
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
Red-tailed Leaflove | Leaf-love
Baumann’s Olive Greenbul | Baumann’s Greenbul
Square-tailed Saw-wing
Fanti Saw-wing
White-bibbed Swallow | White-throated Blue Swallow
West African Swallow
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow | Preuss’s Swallow
Kemp’s Longbill
Grey Longbill
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia
Tit Hylia
Rock-loving Cisticola
Red-winged Prinia
Black-capped Apalis
Sharpe’s Apalis (UGE)
Oriole Warbler
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)
Lesser Blue-eared Starling
Splendid Starling
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
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
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher | African Forest Flycatcher
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Nimba Flycatcher (UGE)
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Olivaceous Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher | Little Flycatcher
Dusky-blue Flycatcher
Tessmann’s Flycatcher
Ussher’s Flycatcher
Brown-chested Alethe
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Orange-breasted Forest Robin
Grey-winged Robin-Chat
Lowland Akalat
Fraser’s Sunbird
Mangrove Sunbird | Mouse-brown Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird
Yellow-chinned Sunbird
Reichenbach’s Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Buff-throated Sunbird
Carmelite Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Olive-naped Weaver
Orange Weaver
Chestnut-and-black Weaver
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Maxwell’s Black Weaver
Compact Weaver
Preuss’s Weaver
Gola Malimbe | Ballman’s Malimbe (UGE)
Red-vented Malimbe
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Green Twinspot | Green-backed Twinspot
Red-fronted Antpecker
White-breasted Nigrita
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Grey-headed Nigrita
Western Bluebill
Crimson Seedcracker
Yellow-winged Pytilia | Red-faced Pytilia
Black-bellied Firefinch
Bar-breasted Firefinch
Gosling’s Bunting

Congo Serpent Eagle (Tasso Leventis)
Yellow-bearded Greenbul (Paul van Giersbergen)

National bird
Common Bulbul | Pepper Bird

MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest

BIRD AREAS
Upper Guinea forests Endemic Bird Area
9 Important Bird Areas

BIRDING SITES
East Nimba Nature Reserve, Sapo National Park and Wulki Farm

TIMING (Dec–Jan, Apr)
Best during the dry season (Oct–Apr) when access is easier and most forest birds breed
Whydahs and indigobirds are more likely to be in breeding plumage immediately after the rains (Oct–Jan)
Avoid the main rains (May–Sep)

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: Guinée, Côte 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)

Other bird or conservation organisations active in Liberia include –
The Environmental Foundation for Africa (EFA)
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

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

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