SUB-REGION
North-East Africa
SIZE
1,861,480 km² (3rd largest country in Africa)
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Palaearctic and Afrotropical elements in the avifauna
Approximately 630 recorded species
Birds best found in Sudan but occurring more widely (BT)
White-headed Babbler | Cretzschmar’s Babbler
Cinnamon Weaver
Birds occurring in only two territories of the ABC region but not near-endemics or BT (1/2)
Desert Owl
Mourning Wheatear
Kordofan Sparrow
Birds best found in two territories but occurring in more (B2), including endemic subspecies (ESS)
Rusty Bush Lark (ESS lynesi)
Proposed splits not yet accepted by IOC, including ESS
Arabian Grey Shrike (ESS jebelmarrae)
Singing Bush Lark
Mangrove Reed Warbler
African Scrub Robin
Ethiopian Firefinch
Other taxa of interest, including more ESS
Stone Partridge
Sand Partridge
Erckel’s Spurfowl
Clapperton’s Spurfowl
Nubian Nightjar (ESS nubicus)
Golden Nightjar (ESS eximius)
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar (ESS nigricans)
Mottled Swift (ESS furensis)
Eastern Plantain-eater
Arabian Bustard
Savile’s Bustard
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Spotted Sandgrouse
Crowned Sandgrouse
Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
Four-banded Sandgrouse
African Collared Dove
Black-headed Lapwing
Egyptian Plover
Crab-plover
African Skimmer
White-eyed Gull
Sooty Gull
Great Crested Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
White-cheeked Tern
Red-tailed Tropicbird
Brown Booby
Eurasian Spoonbill (archeri)
Western Reef Heron
Egyptian Vulture
Grasshopper Buzzard
Little Owl (spilogastra)
Pharaoh Eagle-Owl
Black Scimitarbill
Northern Red-billed Hornbill
Red-throated Bee-eater
African Green Bee-eater (flavoviridis + cleopatra)
Northern Carmine Bee-eater
Vieillot’s Barbet (vieilloti)
Black-billed Barbet
Black-breasted Barbet
Yellow-breasted Barbet
Fine-spotted Woodpecker
Nubian Woodpecker
Little Grey Woodpecker
African Grey Woodpecker
Brown-backed Woodpecker
Sooty Falcon
Grey-headed Batis (ESS lynesi)
Western Black-headed Batis
Rosy-patched Bushshrike (ESS kordofanicus)
Ethiopian Boubou
Black-headed Gonolek
Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
Yellow-billed Shrike
Grey-backed Fiscal
Piapiac
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
Rufous-naped Lark (ESS kurrae)
Flappet Lark (ESS furensis + sobatensis)
Kordofan Lark
White-tailed Lark
Sun Lark
Crested Lark (ESS isabellina)
Dunn’s Lark
Northern Brownbul
Pale Crag Martin
West African Swallow
Red Sea Cliff Swallow
Northern Crombec
Clamorous Reed Warbler
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (laeneni)
Red-faced Cisticola (ESS niloticus)
Red-pate Cisticola
Foxy Cisticola
Graceful Prinia
Red-fronted Prinia
Cricket Warbler
Buff-bellied Warbler
Green-backed Eremomela (ESS elegans)
Arabian Warbler (blanfordi)
Abyssinian White-eye
Fulvous Babbler
Brown Babbler
White-rumped Babbler
Lesser Blue-eared Starling
Purple Starling
Rüppell’s Starling
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
Chestnut-bellied Starling
Neumann’s Starling
Black Scrub Robin
Silverbird
White-crowned Cliff Chat (ESS kordofanensis)
Anteater Chat (ESS sudanensis)
Heuglin’s Wheatear
Blackstart
Brown-tailed Rock Chat
White-crowned Wheatear
Pygmy Sunbird
Nile Valley Sunbird
Beautiful Sunbird
Palestine Sunbird
Shining Sunbird
Yellow-spotted Bush Sparrow
Sahel Bush Sparrow
House Sparrow (rufidorsalis)
Desert Sparrow
Sudan Golden Sparrow
White-billed Buffalo Weaver
Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver
Speckle-fronted Weaver
Rüppell’s Weaver
Northern Masked Weaver (ESS furensis)
Northern Red Bishop
Fan-tailed Widowbird
African Silverbill
Black-rumped Waxbill
Crimson-rumped Waxbill
Jambandu Indigobird
Long-billed Pipit (ESS jebelmarrae)
Trumpeter Finch
White-rumped Seedeater
Striolated Bunting
Gosling’s Bunting
Brown-rumped 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
Tuti Island in Khartoum for White-headed Babbler and Cinnamon Weaver
Darfur and Kordofan provinces for Kordofan Lark, Kordofan Sparrow and Rusty Bush Lark
Port Sudan area to search for Red Sea Cliff Swallow
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
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