SUB-REGION
Sahel
SIZE
1,886,068 km² (3rd largest country in Africa)
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Palaearctic and Afrotropical elements in the avifauna
Approximately 630 recorded species
Endemics (E)
Red Sea Cliff Swallow | Red Sea Swallow (DD)
Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not near-endemics (1/2)
Desert Owl
Mourning Wheatear
Kordofan Sparrow
Cinnamon Weaver
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC, including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Central African Hoopoe
Barbary Falcon
Ethiopian Puffback
Glossy-backed Drongo
Desert Grey Shrike
Arabian Grey Shrike
Singing Bush Lark
West African Swallow
Mangrove Reed Warbler
African Reed Warbler
African Scrub Robin
White-crowned Cliff Chat (ESS kordofanensis)
Black-faced Quailfinch
Ethiopian Firefinch
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites), including ESS
Common Ostrich
White-faced Whistling Duck
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Spur-winged Goose
Knob-billed Duck
Egyptian Goose
Blue-billed Teal
Helmeted Guineafowl
Stone Partridge
Harlequin Quail
Clapperton’s Spurfowl
Egyptian Nightjar
Nubian Nightjar (ESS nubicus)
Golden Nightjar (ESS eximius)
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar (ESS nigricans)
Standard-winged Nightjar
Pennant-winged Nightjar
African Palm Swift
Mottled Swift (ESS furensis)
Little Swift
Horus Swift
White-rumped Swift
Eastern Plantain-eater
Arabian Bustard
Denham’s Bustard
Nubian Bustard
White-bellied Bustard
Savile’s Bustard
Black-bellied Bustard
Hartlaub’s Bustard
Senegal Coucal
Blue-headed Coucal
White-browed Coucal
Great Spotted Cuckoo
Diederik Cuckoo
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Red-chested Cuckoo
African Cuckoo
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Spotted Sandgrouse
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
Four-banded Sandgrouse
Speckled Pigeon
African Collared Dove
Mourning Collared Dove
Red-eyed Dove
Vinaceous Dove
Laughing Dove
Black-billed Wood Dove
Namaqua Dove
Bruce’s Green Pigeon
Lesser Moorhen
Common Moorhen
Red-knobbed Coot
Allen’s Gallinule
African Swamphen
Black Crake
Black Crowned Crane
Little Grebe
Quail-plover
Spotted Thick-knee
Senegal Thick-knee
Black-winged Stilt
Three-banded Plover
Spur-winged Lapwing
Black-headed Lapwing
African Wattled Lapwing
Kittlitz’s Plover
Egyptian Plover
Greater Painted-snipe
Lesser Jacana
African Jacana
Bronze-winged Courser
Temminck’s Courser
Cream-colored Courser
Collared Pratincole
African Skimmer
African Openbill
Marabou Stork
Yellow-billed Stork
Saddle-billed Stork
Abdim’s Stork
African Woolly-necked Stork
African Darter
Reed Cormorant
African Sacred Ibis
Hadada Ibis
African Spoonbill
Little Bittern
Black-crowned Night Heron
Little Egret
White-backed Night Heron
Striated Heron (atricapilla)
Squacco Heron
Western Cattle Egret
Yellow-billed Egret
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
Black-headed Heron
Hamerkop
Pink-backed Pelican
Secretarybird
Black-winged Kite
Scissor-tailed Kite
African Harrier-Hawk
Egyptian Vulture
Hooded Vulture
White-backed Vulture
Rüppell’s Vulture
White-headed Vulture
Lappet-faced Vulture
Short-toed Snake Eagle
Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle
Brown Snake Eagle
Western Banded Snake Eagle
Bateleur
Martial Eagle
Long-crested Eagle
Wahlberg’s Eagle
Tawny Eagle
Verreaux’s Eagle
African Hawk-Eagle
Lizard Buzzard
Gabar Goshawk
Dark Chanting Goshawk
Shikra
Little Sparrowhawk
Black Sparrowhawk
Black Kite
African Fish Eagle
Grasshopper Buzzard
Red-necked Buzzard
Western Barn Owl
Little Owl (spilogastra)
Pearl-spotted Owlet
African Scops Owl
Northern White-faced Owl
Pharaoh Eagle-Owl
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl
Speckled Mousebird
Blue-naped Mousebird
Narina Trogon
Eurasian Hoopoe (major)
Green Wood Hoopoe
Black Scimitarbill
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Northern Red-billed Hornbill
African Grey Hornbill
Purple Roller
Abyssinian Roller
Broad-billed Roller
Grey-headed Kingfisher
Striped Kingfisher
Woodland Kingfisher
African Pygmy Kingfisher
Malachite Kingfisher
Pied Kingfisher
Little Bee-eater
Ethiopian Bee-eater
Red-throated Bee-eater
White-throated Bee-eater
African Green Bee-eater (flavoviridis/cleopatra)
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
Vieillot’s Barbet
Black-billed Barbet
Black-breasted Barbet
Yellow-breasted Barbet
Brown-backed Honeybird
Lesser Honeyguide
Greater Honeyguide
Fine-spotted Woodpecker
Nubian Woodpecker
Bearded Woodpecker
Little Grey Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Brown-backed Woodpecker
Common Kestrel
Fox Kestrel
Grey Kestrel
Red-necked Falcon
African Hobby
Lanner Falcon
Meyer’s Parrot
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Grey-headed Batis (chadensis/orientalis)
Western Black-headed Batis
Grey-headed Bushshrike
Orange-breasted Bushshrike
Rosy-patched Bushshrike (ESS kordofanicus)
Marsh Tchagra
Black-crowned Tchagra
Black-headed Gonolek
Brubru
White-crested Helmetshrike
White-breasted Cuckooshrike
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
African Golden Oriole
African Paradise Flycatcher
Yellow-billed Shrike
Grey-backed Fiscal
Piapiac
Pied Crow
Brown-necked Raven
Fan-tailed Raven
White-shouldered Black Tit
White-winged Black Tit
Sennar Penduline Tit
Greater Hoopoe-Lark (desertorum)
Rufous-rumped Lark
Desert Lark
Black-crowned Sparrow-Lark
Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark
Highland Lark (ESS kurrae)
Flappet Lark (ESS furensis)
Rusty Bush Lark (ESS lynesi)
Kordofan Lark
White-tailed Lark
Sun Lark
Crested Lark (ESS isabellina)
Greater Short-toed Lark
Dunn’s Lark
Northern Brownbul
Common Bulbul
Grey-rumped Swallow
Brown-throated Martin
Red-throated Rock Martin
Ethiopian Swallow
Wire-tailed Swallow
Lesser Striped Swallow
Red-breasted Swallow
Mosque Swallow
Northern Crombec
Lesser Swamp Warbler (jacksoni)
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (laeneni)
Red-faced Cisticola (ESS niloticus)
Singing Cisticola
Rock-loving Cisticola
Winding Cisticola
Red-pate Cisticola
Foxy Cisticola
Zitting Cisticola
Desert Cisticola
Graceful Prinia
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Red-fronted Prinia
Cricket Warbler
Buff-bellied Warbler
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Yellow-bellied Eremomela
Green-backed Eremomela (ESS elegans)
Abyssinian White-eye
Northern Yellow White-eye
Fulvous Babbler
Brown Babbler
White-headed Babbler
Wattled Starling
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Lesser Blue-eared Starling
Bronze-tailed Starling
Purple Starling
Rüppell’s Starling
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
Chestnut-bellied Starling
Violet-backed Starling
Neumann’s Starling
Yellow-billed Oxpecker
African Thrush
Black Scrub Robin
Pale Flycatcher
Northern Black Flycatcher
Silverbird
Gambaga Flycatcher
White-browed Robin-Chat
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
African Stonechat (ESS jebelmarrae)
Anteater Chat (ESS sudanensis)
Heuglin’s Wheatear
Blackstart
Familiar Chat
Brown-tailed Rock Chat (furensis)
White-crowned Wheatear
Pygmy Sunbird
Nile Valley Sunbird
Scarlet-chested Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Palestine Sunbird
Variable Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Yellow-spotted Bush Sparrow
Sahel Bush Sparrow
Chestnut Sparrow
Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
Swainson’s Sparrow
House Sparrow (rufidorsalis)
Desert Sparrow
Sudan Golden Sparrow
White-billed Buffalo Weaver
Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver
Grey-capped Social Weaver
Speckle-fronted Weaver
Little Weaver
Rüppell’s Weaver
Northern Masked Weaver (ESS furensis)
Vitelline Masked Weaver
Village Weaver
Red-headed Weaver
Red-billed Quelea
Yellow-crowned Bishop
Black-winged Red Bishop
Northern Red Bishop
Fan-tailed Widowbird
Yellow-mantled Widowbird
White-winged Widowbird
Red-cowled Widowbird
African Silverbill
Fawn-breasted Waxbill
Black-rumped Waxbill
Crimson-rumped Waxbill
Cut-throat Finch
Orange-breasted Waxbill
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
Green-winged Pytilia
Red-billed Firefinch
Village Indigobird
Jambandu Indigobird
Barka Indigobird
Pin-tailed Whydah
Long-tailed Paradise Whydah
Sahel Paradise Whydah
African Pied Wagtail
African Pipit (lynesi/stabilis)
Long-billed Pipit (ESS jebelmarrae)
Plain-backed Pipit (omoensis)
Trumpeter Finch
White-rumped Seedeater
Yellow-fronted Canary
Striolated Bunting (saturatior/jebelmarrae)
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Gosling’s Bunting
Golden-breasted Bunting
National bird
Secretarybird |وزير الطيور (EN)
MAIN HABITATS
Thickets along the Nile River, arid savanna, desert
BIRD AREAS
North-east Sudan Secondary Area
11 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Red Sea Hills to search for Red Sea Cliff Swallow, as well as for Sand Partridge (cholmleyi), Erckel’s Spurfowl, Crowned Sandgrouse, Bonelli’s Eagle, Desert Owl, Grey-headed Batis (ESS lynesi), Rosy-patched Bushshrike (cruentus), Pale Crag Martin (arabica), Arabian Warbler (blanfordi), Hooded Wheatear, Brown-tailed Rock Chat (scotocerca), Abyssinian Sunbird (habessinicus), Long-billed Pipit (nivescens) and Striolated Bunting (striolata)
Suakin Archipelago, Sanganeb Atoll, Mukkawar Island and Dungonab Bay for breeding seabirds and waterbirds including Kentish Plover, Crab-plover, Brown Noddy, Bridled Tern, Saunders’s Tern, Caspian Tern, White-cheeked Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Greater Crested Tern, Sooty Gull, White-eyed Gull, Brown Booby, Eurasian Spoonbill (archeri), Western Reef Heron (schistacea), Striated Heron (brevipes) and Goliath Heron, also Osprey and Sooty Falcon, as well as Greater Flamingo, Greater Sand Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Sandwich Tern, Slender-billed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Pallas’s Gull, Caspian Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull (fuscus/barabensis) and Red-billed Tropicbird
Also Dinder National Park (NP) and Radom NP
TIMING (Aug–Sep, Dec)
Being a dry country, best to visit at the end of the rains (Aug–Dec)
Most migrants are present Nov–Mar
Avoid the hottest time of the year (Apr–Jun)
RESOURCES
Apps
Birds of Africa
Field guides
Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Ian Sinclair & Peter Ryan (2010)
Birds of the Horn of Africa by Nigel Redman, Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe (2011) treats almost all species
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow & Ron Demey (2014) covers most species
Atlases
Distribution Atlas of Sudan’s Birds with Notes on Habitat and Status by Gerhard Nikolaus (1987)
Further reading
Sudan by 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)
Birds of the Sudan: Their Identification and Distribution by Francis O Cave & James D Macdonald (1955)
Articles in Scopus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Blogs
Birding Sudan by Tom Jenner (2010-2015)
Birdwatching in Khartoum by Ola Elleström (2005-2006)
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Sudan
The BirdLife International UNDP/GEF Migratory Soaring Birds Project works in Sudan
Other bird or conservation organisations active in Sudan include –
Sudanese Wildlife Society (SWS)
Sudanese Environment Conservation Society (SECS)
Sudanese Birds Watcher Club
SOS Sahel Sudan