SUB-REGION
West Africa
SIZE
196,710 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Afrotropical avifauna, with a minor Palaearctic element
Approximately 660 recorded species
Birds best found in Senegal but occurring more widely (BT)
Savile’s Bustard
Little Grey Woodpecker
Sennar Penduline Tit
River Prinia
Chestnut-bellied Starling
Black Scrub Robin
Sudan Golden Sparrow
Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not near-endemics or BT (1/2)
Mali Firefinch
Birds best found in two territories but occurring in more (B2)
Black-headed Lapwing (tectus)
Western Red-billed Hornbill
African Green Bee-eater
Cricket Warbler
White-billed Buffalo Weaver
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
West African Pied Hornbill
Western Piping Hornbill
Desert Grey Shrike
Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler
African Scrub Robin (BT)
Vinaceous Firefinch (B2)
Other taxa of interest
African Pygmy Goose
Stone Partridge
White-throated Francolin
Ahanta Spurfowl
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Egyptian Nightjar
Golden Nightjar
Plain Nightjar
Violet Turaco
Guinea Turaco
Arabian Bustard
Black-throated Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Four-banded Sandgrouse
Adamawa Turtle Dove
African Collared Dove
African Finfoot
White-spotted Flufftail
Black Crowned Crane
Quail-plover
Egyptian Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Cream-coloured Courser
West African Crested Tern
Red-billed Tropicbird
White-crested Tiger Heron
White-backed Night Heron
Western Reef Heron
Scissor-tailed Kite | African Swallow-tailed Kite
Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Grasshopper Buzzard
Northern White-faced Owl
Blue-naped Mousebird
Narina Trogon
Black Scimitarbill
Yellow-casqued Hornbill
Blue-bellied Roller
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Red-throated Bee-eater
Hairy-breasted Barbet
Vieillot’s Barbet
Bearded Barbet
Spotted Honeyguide
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Fine-spotted Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Fox Kestrel
Senegal Parrot
Senegal Batis
Yellow-crowned Gonolek
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
Yellow-billed Shrike
Western Square-tailed Drongo
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
Piapiac
White-shouldered Black Tit
Yellow Penduline Tit
Western Nicator
Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark
Rufous-rumped Lark
Kordofan Lark
Sun Lark
Grey-headed Bristlebill
Swamp Palm Bulbul
White-throated Greenbul
Red-tailed Leaflove
Fanti Saw-wing
Pied-winged Swallow
Red-chested Swallow
West African Swallow
Green Crombec
Green Hylia
Greater Swamp Warbler (senegalensis)
Aquatic Warbler
Whistling Cisticola
Dorst’s Cisticola
Rufous Cisticola
Desert Cisticola
Red-winged Prinia
Oriole Warbler
Yellow-bellied Eremomela (alexanderi)
Senegal Eremomela
Brown Illadopsis
Fulvous Babbler
Blackcap Babbler
Yellow-bellied Hyliota
Purple Starling
Bronze-tailed Starling
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
Neumann’s Starling
Blue Rock Thrush
White-tailed Alethe
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
White-crowned Robin-Chat
Anteater Chat
White-fronted Black Chat
Atlas Wheatear
Mangrove Sunbird
Pygmy Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Yellow-spotted Bush Sparrow
Sahel Bush Sparrow
Speckle-fronted Weaver
Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver
Heuglin’s Masked Weaver
Olive-naped Weaver
Blue-billed Malimbe
African Silverbill
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Lavender Waxbill
Black-rumped Waxbill
Western Bluebill
Crimson Seedcracker
Red-winged Pytilia
Sahel Paradise Whydah
Exclamatory Paradise Whydah
Wilson’s Indigobird
White-rumped Seedeater
Brown-rumped Bunting
Gosling’s Bunting
MAIN HABITATS
Arid savanna, wetlands
BIRD AREAS
Upper Niger valley Secondary Area
21 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Richard Toll, Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary and Sine-Saloum Delta
TIMING (Aug–Sep, Mar)
Being arid, most birds breed at the end of the rains (Sep–Nov)
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa (iOS or Android)
Field guides
Birds of Senegal and The Gambia by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2023)
Birds of The Gambia and Senegal by Clive Barlow & Tim Wacher (2010)
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014)
Oiseaux du Sénégal by Jean-Marie Dupart (2017)
Sounds
Audio Guide to the Birds of Senegal/Guide Sonore des Oiseaux du Sénégal curated by Bram Piot
Bird Song of The Gambia and Senegal: an Aid to Identification by Clive Barlow, John Hammick & Pat Sellar
Oiseaux d’Afrique/African Bird Sounds Vol 2: Afrique Occidentale et Centrale/West and Central Africa by Claude Chappuis
Site guides
Birding in the Dakar Area by Betsy Hopkins (2005)
Seawatching at N’Gor by Niklas Holmström (2005)
Atlases
Atlas des Oiseaux de Casamance
Further reading
Senegal by N D Coulthard in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
Oiseaux Nicheurs sur les Côtes du Parc National du Delta du Sine-Saloum et du Parc National Langue de Barbarie, Sénégal, 1998 by Guido O Keijl, Allix Brenninkmeijer, Frans J Schepers, Robert E Brasseur, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Eric W M Stienen & Jan Veen (2000)
Oiseaux d’Eau dans le Delta du Sine-Saloum et la Petite Côte, Sénégal, Janvier 1997 by FJ Schepers, G O Keijl, P L Meininger & J B Rigoulot (1998)
Les Oiseaux de Sénégambie: Notices et Cartes de Distribution by Gérard J Morel & Marie-Yvonne Morel (1990)
Land Cover and Avian Biodiversity in Rice Fields and Mangroves of West Africa by Daan Bos, Ion Grigoras & Abdoulaye Ndiaye (2006)
Birding Northern Senegal (St. Louis, Richard Toll and Podor), a trip report by David Karr (2018)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Les Oiseaux du Sénégal
Seawatching in Senegal
UNESCO World Heritage List: Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary and Niokolo-Koba National Park
Senegal Tours – Ashanti African Tours
Blogs
Senegal Wildlife – Birdwatching and Natural History in Dakar and Beyond/L’Ornithologie et l’Histoire Naturelle de Dakar et Au-delà
ORNITHONDAR – Des Oiseaux et Autres dans le Nord du Sénégal/Birds and More in Northern Senegal
Facebook groups
Nature et Oiseaux Sénégal
Birding Senegal
Parc National des Oiseaux de Djoudj
ORGANISATIONS
Association Nature-Communautés-Développement (NCD) is the BirdLife Partner in Senegal
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Senegal include –
APALIS (Association pour l’Études et la Conservation des Oiseaux de Casamance au Sénégal)/GÉPOC (Groupe d’Études et de Protection des Oiseaux de Casamance)
GIE Niokolo
Comité de Gestion de la Réserve Ornithologique de Kalissaye (ROK)
Association Sénégalaise des Amis de la Nature (ASAN)
Centre de Suivi Ecologique (CSE)
Oceanium de Dakar
Nébéday
Neene Ladde
Innovations Environnement et Développement Durable (IE2D)
Aire Marine Protégée du Gandoule GIE Niowudane (AMPG)
Partenariat Régional pour la Conservation de la Zone Côtière et Marine (PRCM) en Afrique de l’Ouest
Wetlands International Afrique (WIACO)
WeForest
StopDesert