SUB-REGION
West Africa
SIZE
56,785 km²
BIRDS AND BIRDING
SPECIES
Diversity
Afrotropical avifauna
Approximately 610 recorded species
Proposed new species or splits not yet accepted by IOC
Black-shouldered Nightjar
Etchécopar’s Owlet
Whistling Long-tailed Cuckoo
Western Piping Hornbill
Togo Yellow-billed Barbet
West African Pitta
Glossy-backed Drongo
Western Square-tailed Drongo
Singing Bush Lark
Yellow-throated Greenbul
Yellow-bellied Crombec
Black-crowned Capuchin Babbler
African Scrub Robin
Orange-breasted Forest Robin
Black-faced Quailfinch
Grey Firefinch
More Guineo-Congolian endemics or near-endemics occurring in Togo
Latham’s Francolin
Ahanta Spurfowl
Great Blue Turaco
Guinea Turaco
Black-throated Coucal
Yellow-throated Cuckoo
Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
White-spotted Flufftail
Nkulengu Rail
White-crested Tiger Heron
Congo Serpent Eagle
Long-tailed Hawk
Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
West African Pied Hornbill
Western Long-tailed Hornbill
Blue-throated Roller
White-bellied Kingfisher
Black Bee-eater
Rosy Bee-eater
Bristle-nosed Barbet
Naked-faced Barbet
Speckled Tinkerbird
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
Hairy-breasted Barbet
Cassin’s Honeybird
Least Honeyguide
Spotted Honeyguide
Buff-spotted Woodpecker
Fire-bellied Woodpecker
Melancholy Woodpecker
Rufous-sided Broadbill
West African Wattle-eye
Red-cheeked Wattle-eye
Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
Many-colored Bushshrike
Sabine’s Puffback
Lowland Sooty Boubou
Red-billed Helmetshrike
African Shrike-flycatcher
Western Oriole
Black-winged Oriole
Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher
Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
Western Nicator
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Grey-headed Bristlebill
Swamp Palm Bulbul
Simple Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Western Bearded Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul
Plain Greenbul
Little Grey Greenbul
White-throated Greenbul
Red-tailed Leaflove
Baumann’s Olive Greenbul
Kemp’s Longbill
Grey Longbill
Green Hylia
Tit Hylia
Sharpe’s Apalis
Yellow-browed Camaroptera
Olive-green Camaroptera
Rufous-crowned Eremomela
Brown Illadopsis
Puvel’s Illadopsis
Violet-backed Hyliota
Chestnut-winged Starling
Finsch’s Rufous Thrush
Fire-crested Alethe
White-browed Forest Flycatcher
Little Grey Flycatcher
Blue-shouldered Robin-Chat
Little Green Sunbird
Yellow-chinned Sunbird
Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
Buff-throated Sunbird
Tiny Sunbird
Superb Sunbird
Chestnut-and-black Weaver
Yellow-mantled Weaver
Blue-billed Malimbe
Red-headed Malimbe
Crested Malimbe
Chestnut-breasted Nigrita
Pale-fronted Nigrita
Western Bluebill
Black-bellied Seedcracker
Other taxa of interest (see also under Birding Sites)
Stone Partridge
Double-spurred Spurfowl
Plain Nightjar
Long-tailed Nightjar
Standard-winged Nightjar
Mottled Spinetail
African Palm Swift
Little Swift
White-rumped Swift
Western Plantain-eater
Violet Turaco
Senegal Coucal
Blue-headed Coucal
Blue Malkoha
Levaillant’s Cuckoo
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Red-chested Cuckoo
African Cuckoo
Red-eyed Dove
Vinaceous Dove
Laughing Dove
Black-billed Wood Dove
Blue-spotted Wood Dove
African Green Pigeon
African Finfoot
White-backed Night Heron
Black-winged Kite
African Harrier-Hawk
Hooded Vulture
Brown Snake Eagle
Lizard Buzzard
Gabar Goshawk
Shikra
Grasshopper Buzzard
Red-necked Buzzard
Yellow-billed Kite
Pearl-spotted Owlet
African Scops Owl
Northern White-faced Owl
Greyish Eagle-Owl
Green Wood Hoopoe
Black Scimitarbill
African Grey Hornbill
Grey-headed Kingfisher
Striped Kingfisher
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
African Pygmy Kingfisher
Little Bee-eater
White-throated Bee-eater
Blue-bellied Roller
Broad-billed Roller
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
Bearded Barbet
Vieillot’s Barbet
Lesser Honeyguide
African Grey Woodpecker
Common Kestrel
Grey Kestrel
African Hobby
Lanner Falcon
Senegal Parrot
Senegal Batis
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Grey-headed Bushshrike
Orange-breasted Bushshrike
Black-crowned Tchagra
Northern Puffback
Tropical Boubou
White-crested Helmetshrike
African Golden Oriole
African Paradise Flycatcher
Yellow-billed Shrike
Piapiac
Pied Crow
Little Greenbul
Common Bulbul
Pied-winged Swallow
Lesser Striped Swallow
Mosque Swallow
African Moustached Warbler
Northern Crombec
Red-faced Cisticola
Singing Cisticola
Croaking Cisticola
Short-winged Cisticola
Tawny-flanked Prinia
Red-winged Prinia
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Senegal Eremomela
Northern Yellow White-eye
Brown Babbler
Purple Starling
Violet-backed Starling
African Thrush
Pale Flycatcher
Grey Tit-Flycatcher
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Collared Sunbird
Green-headed Sunbird
Olive Sunbird
Splendid Sunbird
Variable Sunbird
Copper Sunbird
Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
Little Weaver
Olive-naped Weaver
Heuglin’s Masked Weaver
Village Weaver
Red-headed Quelea
Black-winged Red Bishop
Yellow-mantled Widowbird
Bronze Mannikin
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Red-billed Firefinch
Bar-breasted Firefinch
Village Indigobird
Wilson’s Indigobird
Pin-tailed Whydah
MAIN HABITATS
Moist savanna, lowland forest, Guinea woodland
BIRD AREAS
4 Important Bird Areas
BIRDING SITES
Assoukoko Forest, Danyi-Dzogbégan Monastery, Mont Kloto and Misahohé Forest, Togodo-Sud National Park (NP) & Togodo-Nord Natural Resource Management Area for Guineo-Congolian species, as well as Western Crested Guineafowl, Thick-billed Cuckoo, African Emerald Cuckoo, Black Cuckoo, Tambourine Dove, African Cuckoo-Hawk, Bat Hawk, Ayres’s Hawk-Eagle, Red-chested Goshawk, Black Sparrowhawk, African Wood Owl, Shining-blue Kingfisher, Double-toothed Barbet, Willcocks’s Honeyguide, Little Green Woodpecker, Marsh Tchagra, Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcher, Purple-throated Cuckooshrike, Slender-billed Greenbul, Yellow-whiskered Greenbul, Whistling Cisticola, Splendid Starling, Ashy Flycatcher, Olive-bellied Sunbird, [Red-collared Widowbird,] Black-and-white Mannikin, Magpie Mannikin and Grey-headed Nigrita
Fazao-Malfakassa NP & Abdoulaye Wildlife Reserve (WR) for a mix of lowland forest and savanna woodland species including Helmeted Guineafowl, Freckled Nightjar, Mottled Swift, Black-bellied Bustard, Palm-nut Vulture, [White-backed Vulture,] Beaudouin’s Snake Eagle, Bateleur, [Crowned Eagle,] Martial Eagle, Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle, African Hawk-Eagle, Narina Trogon, [Abyssinian Ground Hornbill,] Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Red-throated Bee-eater, [Brown-backed Honeybird,] Greater Honeyguide, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Cardinal Woodpecker, Brown-backed Woodpecker, Fox Kestrel, [Brown-necked Parrot,] Brown-crowned Tchagra, Brubru, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, African Blue Flycatcher, White-shouldered Black Tit, Rufous-rumped Lark, Fanti Saw-wing, Red-throated Rock Martin, Red-chested Swallow, West African Swallow, Preuss’s Cliff Swallow, Rock-loving Cisticola, Rufous Cisticola, Oriole Warbler, Blackcap Babbler, Yellow-bellied Hyliota, African Spotted Creeper, Lesser Blue-eared Starling, Bronze-tailed Starling, Northern Black Flycatcher, Gambaga Flycatcher, White-crowned Cliff Chat, White-fronted Black Chat, Familiar Chat, Western Violet-backed Sunbird, Pygmy Sunbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Sahel Bush Sparrow, Red-headed Weaver, Grey-headed Oliveback, Red-winged Pytilia, Yellow-winged Pytilia, African Firefinch, Black-bellied Firefinch, Cameroon Indigobird, Exclamatory Paradise Whydah, Togo Paradise Whydah, Yellow-fronted Canary, West African Seedeater, Gosling’s Bunting and Cabanis’s Bunting, as well as [African Woolly-necked Stork,] Hadada Ibis and Hamerkop
Mono River & Nangbéto Dam for Egyptian Plover, as well as Senegal Thick-knee, Kittlitz’s Plover, White-crowned Lapwing, Rock Pratincole, Striated Heron, Western Banded Snake Eagle, Long-crested Eagle, Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl, Pel’s Fishing Owl, Giant Kingfisher, Wire-tailed Swallow and African Pied Wagtail
Coast (Aného Lagoon, Lake Togo, Zio & Haho Floodplains) for White-faced Whistling Duck, African Pygmy Goose, [Red-chested Flufftail,] African Crake, Common Moorhen, Allen’s Gallinule, African Swamphen, Black Crake, Little Grebe, Water Thick-knee, Black-winged Stilt, Spur-winged Lapwing, Senegal Lapwing, Forbes’s Plover, White-fronted Plover, Greater Painted-snipe, African Jacana, Collared Pratincole, Little Tern, West African Crested Tern, African Openbill, Reed Cormorant, Dwarf Bittern, Little Bittern, Black-crowned Night Heron, Black Heron, Little Egret, Western Reef Heron, Squacco Heron, Great Egret, Yellow-billed Egret, Grey Heron and Purple Heron among other waterbirds, as well as Black Coucal, Diederik Cuckoo, Speckled Pigeon, Woodland Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Marsh Tchagra, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Northern Fiscal, Ethiopian Swallow, Red-breasted Swallow, Greater Swamp Warbler, Little Rush Warbler, Winding Cisticola, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Oriole Warbler, Mangrove Sunbird, Carmelite Sunbird, Thick-billed Weaver, Slender-billed Weaver, Black-headed Weaver, Compact Weaver, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Northern Red Bishop, Orange-breasted Waxbill, Yellow-throated Longclaw and Plain-backed Pipit
Savanes and Kara Regions (Oti-Kéran NP, Djamdè WR & Sarakawa Park) for, at least formerly, White-throated Francolin, White-bellied Bustard, Black Coucal, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Jacobin Cuckoo, Four-banded Sandgrouse, Speckled Pigeon, African Mourning Dove, Namaqua Dove, Bruce’s Green Pigeon, Common Buttonquail, Spotted Thick-knee, Black-headed Lapwing, Temminck’s Courser, Abdim’s Stork, Black-headed Heron, Wahlberg’s Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Ovambo Sparrowhawk, Eurasian Hoopoe, Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Purple Roller, Abyssinian Roller, Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Fine-spotted Woodpecker, Red-necked Falcon, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Red-headed Lovebird, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike, Yellow Penduline Tit, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark, Flappet Lark, Sun Lark, Crested Lark, Brown-throated Martin, Winding Cisticola, Dorst’s Cisticola, Zitting Cisticola, Black-backed Cisticola, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Chestnut-bellied Starling, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Swamp Flycatcher, White-crowned Robin-Chat, Heuglin’s Wheatear, Beautiful Sunbird, White-billed Buffalo Weaver, Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-Weaver, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Vitelline Masked Weaver, Black-headed Weaver, Red-billed Quelea, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Northern Red Bishop, African Silverbill, Lavender Waxbill, Black-rumped Waxbill, Cut-throat Finch, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Green-winged Pytilia, Barka Indigobird, Cuckoo-finch, White-rumped Seedeater and Brown-rumped Bunting, as well as Spur-winged Goose, Streaky-breasted Flufftail, Lesser Moorhen and African Wattled Lapwing among other waterbirds
TIMING (Nov–Dec, Mar)
Best during the dry season when access is easier (Nov–Apr)
Avoid the main rains (May–Sep)
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
Further reading
The Birds of Benin and Togo: an Atlas and Handbook by Françoise Dowsett-Lemaire & Robert J Dowsett (2019)
Togo by R A Cheke in Important Bird Areas in Africa and Associated Islands: Priority Sites for Conservation edited by Lincoln D C Fishpool & Michael I Evans (2001)
The Birds of Togo: an Annotated Checklist by Robert A Cheke & J Frank Walsh (1996)
Articles in Malimbus, Bull. ABC, etc.
Websites
Togo Tours – Ashanti African Tours
ORGANISATIONS
There is currently no BirdLife Partner in Togo
Bird or conservation organisations active in Togo include –
Société Togolaise pour la Conservation de la Nature (AGBO-ZEGUE ONG)
Case Togo – Amis de la Nature
Les Amis de la Terre-Togo
Les Compagnons Ruraux (LCR)
Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement Togo (JVE)
Alliance Nationale des Consommateurs et de l’Environnement au Togo (ANCE Togo)
Centre de Développement des Actions Communautaires (CDAC-ONG)
Action Environnementale pour le Développement Durable (AE2D)
International Bird Conservation Partnership (IBCP)