SUB-REGION
West Africa
SIZE
71,740 kmĀ²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Strongly Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 650 recorded species
Birds best found in Sierra Leone but occurring more widely (BT), including Upper Guinea endemics (UGE)
White-breasted Guineafowl (UGE)
Rufous Fishing Owl (UGE)
Timneh Parrot
Turati’s Boubou
Emerald Starling
Gola Malimbe | Ballman’s Malimbe (UGE)
Crimson Seedcracker
Jambandu Indigobird
Togo Paradise Whydah
Birds best found in two territories of the ABC region but occurring in more (B2), including UGE
Little Green Woodpecker
Melancholy Woodpecker
Red-cheeked Wattle-eye
Red-billed Helmetshrike
White-necked Rockfowl | Yellow-headed Picathartes (UGE)
Green-tailed Bristlebill (UGE)
Western Bearded Greenbul
Yellow-bearded Greenbul (UGE)
Fanti Saw-wing
Pied-winged Swallow
Kemp’s Longbill
Black-headed Rufous Warbler | Black-capped Rufous Warbler (UGE)
Copper-tailed Starling (UGE)
Yellow-winged Pytilia | Red-faced Pytilia
Cameroon Indigobird
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Black-shouldered Nightjar (B2)
Whistling Long-tailed Cuckoo
Central African Hoopoe
Western Piping Hornbill
Western Yellow-spotted Barbet
Thick-billed Honeyguide
West African Pitta
Rufous-bellied Wattle-eye (BT)
Fanti Drongo
Glossy-backed Drongo
Western Square-tailed Drongo
West African Swallow
Yellow-bellied Crombec
Grey-hooded Capuchin Babbler (BT)
Black-faced Quailfinch
Bannerman’s Pipit
More Guineo-Congolian endemics or near-endemics, including more UGE, occurring in Sierra Leone
Hartlaub’s Duck
Latham’s Francolin | Forest Francolin
Ahanta Spurfowl
Brown Nightjar
Black Spinetail
Sabine’s Spinetail
Cassin’s Spinetail
Bates’s Swift
Great Blue Turaco
Yellow-billed Turaco
Guinea Turaco | Green Turaco
Black-throated Coucal
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Afep Pigeon
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon | Bronze-naped Pigeon
Blue-headed Wood Dove
White-spotted Flufftail
Grey-throated Rail
Nkulengu Rail
Spot-breasted Ibis
White-crested Tiger Heron | White-crested Bittern
Congo Serpent Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
Red-chested Owlet
Akun Eagle-Owl
Shelley’s Eagle-Owl
West African Pied Hornbill
Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
Brown-cheeked Hornbill (UGE)
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Black-casqued Hornbill
Yellow-casqued Hornbill
Western Dwarf Hornbill | Western Little Hornbill
Western Long-tailed Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
Chocolate-backed Kingfisher
African Dwarf Kingfisher
White-bellied 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
Western Yellow-billed Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Yellow-footed Honeyguide
Least Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Brown-eared Woodpecker
Fire-bellied Woodpecker
Black-collared Lovebird
Rufous-sided Broadbill
West African Batis
West African Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Many-colored Bushshrike
Sabine’s Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
African Shrike-flycatcher
Western Wattled Cuckooshrike | Ghana Cuckooshrike (UGE)
Blue Cuckooshrike
Western Oriole | Western Black-headed Oriole
Black-winged Oriole
Shining Drongo
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher | Black-headed Paradise Flycatcher
Dusky Crested Flycatcher
Dusky Tit
Western Nicator
Golden Greenbul
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Grey-headed Bristlebill
Spotted Greenbul
Swamp Palm Bulbul | Swamp Greenbul
Simple Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul | Gray Greenbul
Ansorge’s Greenbul
White-throated Greenbul
Icterine Greenbul
Leaf-love
Baumann’s Olive Greenbul | Baumann’s Greenbul
Square-tailed Saw-wing
White-bibbed Swallow | White-throated Blue Swallow
Grey Longbill
Lemon-bellied Crombec
Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
Green Hylia
Tit Hylia
Chattering Cisticola
Sierra Leone Prinia | White-eyed Prinia (UGE)
Black-capped Apalis
Sharpe’s Apalis (UGE)
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
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
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Fraser’s Forest Flycatcher | African Forest Flycatcher
Grey-throated Tit-Flycatcher
Olivaceous Flycatcher
Tessmann’s Flycatcher
Nimba Flycatcher (UGE)
Dusky-blue Flycatcher
Ussher’s Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher | Little Flycatcher
Cassin’s Flycatcher
Orange-breasted Forest Robin
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Lowland Akalat
Fraser’s Sunbird
Mangrove Sunbird | Mouse-brown Sunbird
Little Green Sunbird
Yellow-chinned Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Buff-throated Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Johanna’s Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Chestnut-and-black Weaver
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Maxwell’s Black Weaver
Preuss’s Weaver
Red-vented Malimbe
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Red-fronted Antpecker
White-breasted Nigrita
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Pale-fronted Nigrita
Western Bluebill
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
African Pygmy Goose
Western Crested Guineafowl
Blue Quail
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
African Black Swift | African Swift
Western Plantain-eater
Senegal Coucal
Blue-headed Coucal
Black Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Thick-billed Cuckoo
African Emerald Cuckoo
Lemon Dove
Blue-spotted Wood Dove
Tambourine Dove
African Green Pigeon
African Finfoot
Buff-spotted Flufftail
Red-chested Flufftail
African Crake
Lesser Moorhen
Allen’s Gallinule
African Swamphen
Black Crake
Senegal Thick-knee
Spur-winged Lapwing
White-crowned Lapwing
Senegal Lapwing
African Wattled Lapwing
Forbes’s Plover
Egyptian Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Collared Pratincole
Rock Pratincole
Olive Ibis
White-backed Night Heron
Palm-nut Vulture
Hooded Vulture
Western Banded Snake Eagle | Banded Snake Eagle
Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
Northern White-faced Owl
Fraser’s Eagle-Owl
Pel’s Fishing Owl
African Wood Owl
Narina Trogon
Blue-bellied Roller
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
Shining-blue Kingfisher
Little Bee-eater
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Double-toothed Barbet
Willcocks’s Honeyguide
African Grey Woodpecker
African Broadbill
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Lagden’s Bushshrike
Orange-breasted Bushshrike | Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike
Brown-crowned Tchagra
Northern Puffback
Tropical Boubou
Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher | Vanga Flycatcher
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
Purple-throated Cuckooshrike
Northern Fiscal
Slender-billed Greenbul
Yellow-gorgeted Greenbul
Little Greenbul
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
Red-chested Swallow
African Red-rumped Swallow (kumboensis)
Preuss’s Cliff Swallow | Preuss’s Swallow
Moustached Grass Warbler
Fan-tailed Grassbird
Red-faced Cisticola
Singing Cisticola
Whistling Cisticola
Winding Cisticola
Short-winged Cisticola | Siffling Cisticola
Black-backed Cisticola
Yellow-breasted Apalis
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Oriole Warbler
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Northern Yellow White-eye
Splendid Starling
African Thrush
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Ashy Flycatcher
Brown-chested Alethe
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Grey-winged Robin-Chat
African Stonechat
Collared Sunbird
Green-headed Sunbird
Olive Sunbird
Olive-bellied Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Variable Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
Thick-billed Weaver | Grosbeak Weaver
Olive-naped Weaver
Village Weaver
Compact Weaver
Red-headed Quelea
Black-winged Red Bishop
Bronze Mannikin
Magpie Mannikin
Black-and-white Mannikin
Green Twinspot | Green-backed Twinspot
Grey-headed Nigrita
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Common Waxbill
Dybowski’s Twinspot
Red-billed Firefinch
African Firefinch | Blue-billed Firefinch
Bar-breasted Firefinch
Village Indigobird
Pin-tailed Whydah
Cuckoo-finch | Parasitic Weaver
Mountain Wagtail
Yellow-throated Longclaw
Plain-backed Pipit
Yellow-fronted Canary
MAIN HABITATS
Lowland forest, moist savanna
BIRD AREAS
Upper Guinea forests Endemic Bird Area
10 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Gola Rainforest National Park (NP), Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Area Peninsula NP, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Loma Mountains NP and Tingi Hills Non-Hunting Forest Reserve for lowland forest species including Upper Guinea endemics
Bumbuna Falls, Outamba-Kilimi NP, Mamunta Mayosso Wildlife Sanctuary and Kuru Hills for savanna species including Helmeted Guineafowl, Stone Partridge, Freckled Nightjar, Standard-winged Nightjar, Denham’s Bustard, Black-bellied Bustard, Vinaceous Dove, Common Buttonquail, Brown Snake Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Grasshopper Buzzard, African Scops Owl, Greyish Eagle-Owl, Green Wood Hoopoe, Black Scimitarbill, African Grey Hornbill, Abyssinian Roller, Striped Kingfisher, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Vieillot’s Barbet, Greater Honeyguide, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Cardinal Woodpecker, Brown-backed Woodpecker, Fox Kestrel, Grey Kestrel, Lanner Falcon, Senegal Parrot, Red-headed Lovebird, Senegal Batis, Grey-headed Bushshrike, Black-crowned Tchagra, Marsh Tchagra, Brubru, White-crested Helmetshrike, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, African Golden Oriole, African Paradise Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Shrike, Piapiac, African Blue Flycatcher, White-shouldered Black Tit, Rufous-rumped Lark, Highland Lark (henrici), Sun Lark, Red-throated Rock Martin, African Red-rumped Swallow (domicella), Northern Crombec, Rock-loving Cisticola (admiralis), Croaking Cisticola, Rufous Cisticola, Red-winged Prinia, Senegal Eremomela, Brown Babbler, Blackcap Babbler, African Spotted Creeper, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Bronze-tailed Starling, Pale Flycatcher, Northern Black Flycatcher, White-crowned Robin-Chat, White-fronted Black Chat, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Sahel Bush Sparrow, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Northern Red Bishop, Yellow-mantled Widowbird, Red-collared Widowbird, Grey-headed Oliveback, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Black-bellied Firefinch, West African Seedeater, Gosling’s Bunting and Cabanis’s Bunting
Coast (Sierra Leone River Estuary, Yawri Bay, Sherbro Island and Lake Mape/Mabesi) for waterbirds including African Skimmer, Grey-headed Gull, West African Crested Tern, Western Reef Heron and Pink-backed Pelican, as well as Swamp Nightjar and Yellow-crowned Gonolek (ESS helenae), also Beautiful Sunbird, Carmelite Sunbird, Slender-billed Weaver and Orange Weaver
TIMING (Nov, FebāMar)
Best when it is dry and access is easier (OctāMar)
Whydahs and indigobirds are likely to be in breeding plumage straight after the rains (OctāDec)
Avoid the main rains (JunāSep)
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
Site guides
Birding in Sierra Leone: an Emerging West African Destination by Frank Lambert (2009)
Birding Sierra Leone by Peter Ryan (2006)
Atlases
Sierra Leone Bird Atlas Project, a member of the African Bird Atlas Project
Further reading
State of Sierra Leoneās Birds: a Guide for Policy and Conservation Action by Arnold D Okoni-Williams, Hazell Shokellu Thompson & Sama Sahr Monde (2014)
The Birds of Gola Forest and Tiwai Island, Sierra Leone by Erik Klop, Jeremy A Lindsell & Alhaji M Siaka (2010)
Waterbirds in Coastal Wetlands of Sierra Leone, January-February 2005 by Jan van der Winden, Alhaji Siaka, Sjoerd Dirksen & Martin Poot (2007)
Land Cover and Avian Biodiversity in Rice Fields and Mangroves of West Africa by Daan Bos, Ion Grigoras & Abdoulaye Ndiaye (2006)
Important Bird Areas in Sierra Leone: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation by Arnold D Okoni-Williams, Hazell Shokellu Thompson, Alie P Koroma & Peter Wood (2005)
Sierra Leone by Arnold D Okoni-Williams, Hazell Shokellu Thompson, Peter Wood, Alie P Koroma & 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)
The Conservation of the Birds of Gola Forest, Sierra Leone by Gary Allport, Malcolm Ausden, Peter V Hayman, Peter Robertson & Peter Wood (1989)
Sierra Leone Birding Trip: Records of Interest by Robert Langhendries & BenoƮt Forget (2010)
Sierra Leone Year Report & Records of Interest by Momoh B Sesay (2017)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Gola Rainforest National Park
Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary
Sierra Leone Tours – Ashanti African Tours
Facebook groups
Sierra Leone Bird Atlas Project
Birds of Sierra Leone
ORGANISATIONS
The Conservation Society of Sierra Leone (CSSL) is the BirdLife Partner in Sierra Leone
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Sierra Leone include –
The Environmental Foundation for Africa (EFA)
Friends of the Earth Sierra Leone (FOESL)
Partenariat RĆ©gional pour la Conservation de la Zone CĆ“tiĆØre et Marine (PRCM) en Afrique de l’Ouest
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)