SUB-REGION
North-East Africa
SIZE
1,759,540 km² (4th largest country in Africa)
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Mostly Palaearctic avifauna, including many non-breeding migrants, passage migrants and vagrants
Approximately 320 recorded species, of which only about 100 breed
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC
Cyrenaican Blue Tit (would-be endemic)
Saharan Scrub Warbler
Levant Scrub Warbler
Other taxa of interest, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Barbary Partridge (barbata)
Thick-billed Lark
Western Orphean Warbler (ESS cyrenaicae)
Marmora’s Warbler
Eurasian Wren (ESS juniperi)
Maghreb Wheatear
Moussier’s Redstart
Desert Sparrow
African Chaffinch (ESS harterti, spodiogenys)
MAIN HABITATS
Desert, coastal wetlands, remnant montane woodland
BIRD AREAS
9 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Jebel Akhdar for Cyrenaican 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
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 the late 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