SUB-REGION
North Africa
SIZE
1,759,540 km² (4th largest country in Africa)
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Mostly Palaearctic avifauna, including many non-breeding migrants and vagrants
Approximately 310 recorded species, of which fewer than 100 breed
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Cyrenaic Partridge (barbata)
North African Buzzard (cirtensis)
Desert Grey Shrike (algeriensis/elegans)
Libyan Blue Tit (ESS cyrenaicae)
Saharan Scrub Warbler (saharae)
Saharan Olivaceous Warbler (reiseri)
African (Barbary) Reed Warbler (ambiguus)
Atlas Chaffinch (ESS harterti)
Tunisian Chaffinch (spodiogenys)
Other taxa of interest, including ESS
Common Quail
Alpine Swift (tuneti)
Pallid Swift (brehmorum)
African Houbara
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse
Spotted Sandgrouse
Black-bellied Sandgrouse
Crowned Sandgrouse
European Turtle Dove (arenicola/rufescens)
Laughing Dove (phoenicophila)
Water Rail
Eurasian Stone-curlew (saharae)
Black-winged Stilt
Little Ringed Plover
Kentish Plover
Cream-colored Courser
Little Tern
Caspian Tern
Lesser Crested Tern (emigratus)
Audouin’s Gull
White Stork
European Shag (desmarestii)
Little Bittern
Western Cattle Egret
Egyptian Vulture
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Little Owl (saharae)
Pharaoh Eagle-Owl
Eurasian Hoopoe
European Bee-eater
Lesser Kestrel
Common Kestrel
Sooty Falcon
Lanner Falcon (tanypterus)
Woodchat Shrike
Brown-necked Raven
Northern Raven (tingitanus)
Greater Hoopoe-Lark (alaudipes)
Thick-billed Lark
Desert Lark (algeriensis/whitakeri)
Bar-tailed Lark (arenicolor)
Thekla’s Lark (carolinae)
Crested Lark (ESS festae)
Temminck’s Lark
Greater Short-toed Lark (rubiginosa)
Calandra Lark
Dupont’s Lark (margaritae)
Mediterranean Short-toed Lark (minor)
Common Reed Warbler (ammon)
Western Orphean Warbler (ESS cyrenaicae)
African Desert Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Spectacled Warbler
Fulvous Babbler
Eurasian Wren (ESS juniperi)
Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin
Desert Wheatear (homochroa)
Western Black-eared Wheatear
Red-rumped Wheatear
Black Wheatear (riggenbachi)
White-crowned Wheatear
Maghreb Wheatear
Rock Sparrow
Spanish Sparrow
Desert Sparrow
Trumpeter Finch (zedlitzi)
European Greenfinch
Common Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Corn Bunting
House Bunting
MAIN HABITATS
Desert, coastal wetlands, remnant montane woodland
BIRD AREAS
9 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Jebel Akhdar for Libyan Blue Tit and other montane species
Zallaf and Ghat Oases for desert species
TIMING (Feb–Apr)
Best in spring, after the rains and before it gets too hot
There are also many migrants passing through at this time
Avoid the hot, dry season (Jun–Sep)
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa
Collins Bird Guide
Field guides
Collins Bird Guide by Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney & Dan Zetterström (2022)
Sounds
Bird Songs of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East by Andreas Schulze & Karl-Heinz Dingler
Bird Sounds of Europe & North-west Africa by Jean C Roché & Jérôme Chevereau
Atlases
Atlas of Wintering Waterbirds of Libya 2005-2010
Further reading
Oiseaux de Libye/Birds of Libya by Paul Isenmann, Jens Hering, Stefan Brehme, Mohamed Essghaier, Khaled Etayeb, Essam Bouras & Hichem Azafzaf (2016)
Birds of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East: an Annotated Checklist by Dominic Mitchell (2017)
The Birds of Libya: an Annotated Checklist by Graham Bundy (1976)
Libya by Peter Robertson & Mohamed Essghaier in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
International Waterbird Census: Libya 2009-2018 by Khaled Etayeb (2021)
Ornithological Survey of the Coast of Libya, July 1993 by P L Meininger, P A Wolf, D A Hadoud & M F A Essghaier (1994)
Articles in Alauda, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Libya – North African Birds/Oiseaux d’Afrique du Nord
Blogs
Birding for a Lark by Robert Tovey
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Libya
Bird or conservation organisations active in Libya include –
Libyan Society for Birds (LSB)
Libyan Organisation for Conservation of Nature (LOCN)
Libyan Wildlife Trust (LWT)
Alhaya Organization for the Protection of Wildlife and Marine Organisms (ALOPWMO)
The New Libya (TNL)
Tour du Valat