SUB-REGION
Sahel
SIZE
1,030,700 km² (11th largest country in Africa)
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Significant Afrotropical and Palaearctic elements in the avifauna
Approximately 540 recorded species
Birds best found in Mauritania but occurring more widely (BT)
Kordofan Lark
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2)
Dunn’s Lark
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Moroccan Cormorant
Pallid Heron (would-be endemic)
North African Buzzard
Barbary Falcon
Desert Grey Shrike
Glossy-backed Drongo
Singing Bush Lark
Saharan Scrub Warbler
Saharan Olivaceous Warbler
African Reed Warbler
African Scrub Robin
Black-faced Quailfinch
Other taxa of interest, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
African Pygmy Goose
Marbled Duck
Stone Partridge
Barbary Partridge
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Egyptian Nightjar
Golden Nightjar
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
Pallid Swift
Western Plantain-eater
Arabian Bustard
Houbara Bustard
Nubian Bustard
Savile’s Bustard
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Spotted Sandgrouse
Crowned Sandgrouse
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
Eurasian Collared Dove
African Collared Dove
Bruce’s Green Pigeon
Black Crowned Crane
Black-necked Grebe
Greater Flamingo
Lesser Flamingo
Eurasian Stone-curlew (saharae)
Black-headed Lapwing
Kentish Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Cream-colored Courser
African Skimmer
Eurasian Spoonbill (ESS balsaci)
Western Reef Heron
Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle
Grasshopper Buzzard
Pharaoh Eagle-Owl
Little Owl (saharae)
Blue-naped Mousebird
Black Scimitarbill
Western Red-billed Hornbill
Abyssinian Roller
Red-throated Bee-eater
African Green Bee-eater
Vieillot’s Barbet
Little Grey Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Lanner Falcon (erlangeri)
Senegal Parrot
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Senegal Batis
Yellow-crowned Gonolek
Yellow-billed Shrike
Piapiac
Brown-necked Raven
Sennar Penduline Tit
Greater Hoopoe-Lark
Thick-billed Lark
Desert Lark
Bar-tailed Lark
Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark
Thekla’s Lark
Crested Lark (ESS balsaci)
Maghreb Lark
Temminck’s Lark
Greater Short-toed Lark
Pale Crag Martin (presaharica)
Northern Crombec
Iberian Chiffchaff
Melodious Warbler
Savi’s Warbler
Cricket Warbler
Green-backed Camaroptera
Yellow-bellied Eremomela
African Desert Warbler
Tristram’s Warbler
Sardinian Warbler
Moltoni’s Warbler
Spectacled Warbler
Fulvous Babbler
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
Chestnut-bellied Starling
Neumann’s Starling
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
Black Scrub Robin
Anteater Chat
Heuglin’s Wheatear
Desert Wheatear
Black Wheatear
White-crowned Wheatear
Pygmy Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Sahel Bush Sparrow
Desert Sparrow
Sudan Golden Sparrow
White-billed Buffalo Weaver
Speckle-fronted Weaver
Little Weaver
Northern Red Bishop
African Silverbill
Black-rumped Waxbill
Sahel Paradise Whydah
Trumpeter Finch
White-rumped Seedeater
House Bunting
Gosling’s Bunting
MAIN HABITATS
Coastal wetlands, arid savanna, desert
BIRD AREAS
25 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Oued Initi and Adrar Plateau for desert species
Banc d’Arguin National Park (NP) for waders/shorebirds, and larids including Slender-billed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Audouin’s Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, West African Crested Tern, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Bridled Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern and Black Tern
Diawling NP for waterbirds, and non-breeding migrants including Western Bonelli’s Warbler, Aquatic Warbler, Western Olivaceous Warbler, Western Orphean Warbler, Western Subalpine Warbler, Atlas Wheatear and Western Black-eared Wheatear
Canary Current Shelf Break for seabirds including Common Scoter, Red Phalarope, Black-legged Kittiwake, Sabine’s Gull, Great Skua, Pomarine Jaeger, Parasitic Jaeger, Long-tailed Jaeger, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, White-faced Storm Petrel, European Storm Petrel, Leach’s Storm Petrel, Band-rumped Storm Petrel, Scopoli’s Shearwater, Cory’s Shearwater, Cape Verde Shearwater, Great Shearwater, Bulwer’s Petrel, Northern Gannet and Brown Booby
Also Ras Nouadhibou/Cap Blanc, Aftout es Sâheli, Chott Boul, Lac d’Aleg and Lac de Mâl
TIMING (Nov–Jan)
Best in the cool season (Oct–Feb)
Avoid the hottest time of the year (May–Sep), when Afro-Palearctic migrants are also absent
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
Atlas des Oiseaux de Mauritanie/Atlas of the Birds of Mauritania
Atlas de Répartition des Oiseaux du Mali et de Mauritanie by B Lamarche (1993)
Further reading
Oiseaux de Mauritanie/Birds of Mauritania by Paul Isenmann, Maurice Benmergui, Peter Browne, Amadou Diam Ba, Checkh Hamallah Diagana, Yelli Diawara & Zeine El Abidine ould Sidaty (2010)
The Birds of the Banc d’Arguin by Paul Isenmann (2006)
Wader and Waterbird Census at the Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, January 2000 by Ward Hagemeijer, Cor Smit, Peter de Boer, Arend van Dijk, Neil Ravenscroft, Marc van Roomen & Mick Wright (2004)
Mauritania by Tara Shine, Peter Robertson & Bruno Lamarche in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Homeward Bound: Problems Waders Face When Migrating from the Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania, to Their Northern Breeding Grounds in Spring by B J Ens, T Piersma, W J Wolff & L Zwarts (1990)
Liste Commentée des Oiseaux de Mauritanie by Bruno Lamarche (1988)
Wintering Waders on the Banc d’Arguin, Mauritania by W Altenburg, M Engelmoer, R Mes & T Piersma (1982)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Parc National du Banc d’Arguin (PNBA)
Banc d’Arguin National Park – UNESCO World Heritage List
Blogs
Birding for a Lark by Robert Tovey
ORGANISATIONS
Nature Mauritanie – Association Mauritanienne de Conservation de la Nature is the BirdLife Partner in Mauritania
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Mauritania include –
Association Naforé pour la Protection de l’Environnement (NAFORE)
Club des Amis de la Nature et Protection de l’Environnement (CANPE)
Fonds Fiduciaire du Banc d’Arguin et de la Biodiversité Côtière et Marine/Banc d’Arguin and Coastal and Marine Biodiversity (BACoMaB) Trust Fund
Partenariat Régional pour la Conservation de la Zone Côtière et Marine (PRCM) en Afrique de l’Ouest