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Senegal

White-crowned Robin Chat Cossypha albicapilla ŠNigel Blake http://www.nigelblake.co.uk/

You will notice that there is no introduction to this section yet.

I would like to fill this gap with an introduction from a local birder [or someone who is a frequent visitor] for every on of the geographical pages. The many thousands of birders now regularly using these pages prefer to read something written by someone who can see the place from an insider's point of view. They know the best spots, not just the ones that first time overseas visitors usually visit or that are on the normal birding trip itineraries.

Each introduction carries the e-mail address of the contributor so that birders can get in touch with them if, for example, they are planning a trip [unless the contributor is unable to do this].

Please get in touch if you feel you can contribute an introduction to this page - you don't have to be an expert; I'm not!

numbers

Number of bird species:663

useful reading

Birds of the Gambia and Senegal

Clive Barlow, Tim Wacher and Tony Disley Series: HELM FIELD GUIDES 400 pages, 48 col plates [660 species], illus, maps. Christopher Helm 2005
ISBN: 0713675497
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Birds of Western Africa: An Identification Guide

Nik Borrow and Ron Demey Series: CHRISTOPHER HELM IDENTIFICATION GUIDE SERIES 832 pages, 147 col plates, 1100 dist maps. Christopher Helm
ISBN: 0713639598
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Field Guide to the Birds of Western Africa

Nik Borrow and Ron Demey Series: HELM FIELD GUIDES 496 pages, 150 col plates, 1300 maps. Christopher Helm See Fatbirder Review
ISBN: 0713666927
Buy this book from NHBS.com

useful information

Proact

Coordinator: none (why not apply?) see http://www.proact-campaigns.net/coordinators
Members: None yet!
Join us at http://www.proact-campaigns.net/team

clubs

African Bird Club

http://www.africanbirdclub.org/countries/Senegal/introduction.html
With good travel connections, a tourist infrastructure and a list of over 600 bird species, one might expect that more birders would visit Senegal. There have been fairly thorough surveys of most of the coastal areas, the Niokolo-Koba National Park and the large Ferlo reserves. However, some other parts of the country remain relatively unknown in ornithological terms, and there are good opportunities for the independently minded birder to explore this interesting country...

West African Ornithological Society

http://malimbus.free.fr/Country%20pages/Senegal.htm
The West African Ornithological Society grew out of the Nigerian Ornithologists Society, which was founded in February 1964. Its object is to promote scientific interest in the birds of West Africa and to further the regions ornithology, mainly by means of its journal Malimbus (formerly the Bulletin of the Nigerian Ornithologists Society). This journal is biannual and bilingual, a unique feature in Africa.The West African Ornithological Society grew out of the Nigerian Ornithologists Society, which was founded in February 1964. Its object is to promote scientific interest in the birds of West Africa and to further the regions ornithology, mainly by means of its journal Malimbus (formerly the Bulletin of the Nigerian Ornithologists Society). This journal is biannual and bilingual, a unique feature in Africa.

reserves

Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary

http://whc.unesco.org/sites/25.htm
In the Senegal River delta, the Djoudj Sanctuary is a wetland of 16,000 hectares, comprised of a large lake surrounded by streams, ponds and backwaters, which form a living but fragile sanctuary for one and a half million birds, such as the white pelican, the purple heron, the African spoonbill, the great egret and the cormorant.

IBAs

http://www.africanbirdclub.org/countries/Senegal/ibas.html
There are no endemic species in Senegal and no primary Endemic Bird Area, although species representative of Sahel, Sudan-Guinea Savanna and Guinea-Congo Forests biomes occur in the country. There is one EBA secondary area for Mali Firefinch, Lagonosticta virata in the Upper Niger Valley and contiguous with that in Mali. Of particular note are the huge concentrations of migrant and resident waterbirds for which the wetlands in the floodplain of the Senegal river are of vital importance. It is estimated that 3 million migrant birds pass through the protected areas in the Senegal river each year. The importance of the coastline for resident and passage seabirds has become apparent in recent years with observations of tens of thousands of migrant terns, gulls and shearwaters moving along the coast...

Niokolo-Koba National Park

http://www.au-senegal.com/decouvrir_en/parc_nioko.php
Birds include Denham`s bustard Neotis cafra denhami, ground hornbill Bucorvus abyssinicus, violet turaco Musophaga violacea, spur-winged goose Plectropterus gambensis, white-faced tree duck Dendrocygna viduata, martial eagle Polemaetus bellicosus and bateleur Terathopius ecaudatus.

Senegal Parks

http://www.africanet.com/africanet/country/senegal/parks.htm
e.g. Parc National du Djoudj - Riverine habitat on the Senegal River. Access by road from St Louis. Open all year round. Reasonable accommodation or camping available. Viewing by foot, vehicle or pirogue (canoe). Important resting place for migratory birds, over 300 species recorded.

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you cant find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page give them a try!

1998 [July] - Artur Degollada i Soler

http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/tripreports/Senegal98.html
More a trip list...

2001 [February] Jean-Philippe Paris

http://www.chez.com/baladeornithologique/Ag/SenegalEN.htm
...I saw more than 220 species and more than 150 in the Sine Saloum where we stayed more than 4 days. However I have not the impression to have saw all the species in this place! The fifth day, before going back to Dakar, a small walk of barely two hours in the morning allowed me to see four new species near the lodge...

2005 [November - Dave Thurlow - Sea Watching

http://senegal.seawatching.net/files/seawatch2005_DT.pdf
Pdf

2006 [January] - Nik Borrow

http://www.birdquest.co.uk/tripreports.cfm?trip=474
We returned to The Gambia and Senegal this year under the guise of Easybird in what was virtually a blaze of glory! An impressive, record-breaking total of 363 species were recorded...

2007 [February] - Bill & Heather Quinn

http://www.dublinbirding.ie/pages/features/trips/Senegal2007/Senegal2007.htm
...There were a number of artificial freshwater ponds in the area used for cultivation. In addition to the more common birds we saw Painted Snipe, Common Snipe, Moorhen, Pearl Spotted Owlet, Wood Sandpiper, Purple Heron, Zitting Cisticola, Green-headed Sunbird, Bar-breasted Firefinch. Afterwards we went into the Abuko Nature Reserve where, in addition to the always-present pair of Giant Kingfishers, we had splendid views of a Red-billed Paradise Flycatcher, a Black Crake, a Little Greenbul and a Collared Sunbird. On 12th February as darkness was falling Modou showed us a Barn Owl in a tree in the grounds of the Senegambia Hotel. It was a very good ending to two excellent weeks birding in the Gambia...

tour operators

Birding Pal

http://www.birdingpal.org/Senegal.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

Birdwatching Breaks

http://www.birdwatchingbreaks.com/Senegal.htm
Next planned trip February 2005.

The Senegal Experience

http://www.senegal.co.uk
Birdwatching - thanks to the diversity and fecundity of the natural environment in Senegal it attracts a whole host of interesting marine and birdlife and there are abundant opportunities to experience it close at hand

Travelling Naturalist

http://www.naturalist.co.uk/tours2006/gambia.php
Run an annual combination trip (i.e. to Gambia too)

places to stay

Centre Faragu

http://www.fagaru.net/
Situated by the Saloum river delta and in the heart of a superb natural forest CENTRE FAGARU offers tourists, international volunteers and students valuable learning opportunities and leisure activities in a site of cultural and natural importance.

Birds of The Gambia and Senegal

http://www.flickr.com/groups/birds-gs
...this photo group started with the intent of promoting responsible birding in The Gambia and Senegal, and sharing information for birders visiting The Gambia, Senegal, or West Africa. Of the 660+ species listed (Clements) for Senegambia, we have pictures of over 495 now: 73%. Also, discussion of trip reports, subspecies, and more. Non-profit, volunteer - with contributors from all over the world...

Checklist

http://www.birdlist.org/senegal.htm#BIRDING

Green Corner Birding

http://www.greencornerbirding.com/home.php
Green Corner Birding is founded by: Chris Groenendijk and Paul van Hoek. If you are planning a birdingtrip to Gambia this DVD is really worth looking at, so you can see what to expect en where to find this birds. You might also want to take a look at the international links page. There you can find some usefull information about local Gambian birdingguides...

Les Oiseaux du Senegal

http://www.au-senegal.com/decouvrir/oiseau.htm
Les oiseaux que l`on peut rencontrer au Sénégal représentent environ 630 espčces dont un peu moins du tiers sont des oiseaux migrateurs européens...

Seabirds off Senegal

http://www.africanbirdclub.org/feature/senegal.html
Despite its location on the extreme western coast of Africa, Senegal has attracted attention from only a few intrepid seabird observers. This is surprising given the unique location of the capital, Dakar, on a low-lying peninsula, the tip of which projects 50 km out to sea from the main north-south line of the coast, offering exceptional opportunities for observations, especially in autumn. The results of our seawatching efforts, presented here, are relatively modest, yet significant.

Senegal - Birder`s Paradise

http://www.bcpl.net/~tross/cn/cn9510.html#7
...My itinerary did not include Djoudj National park, which is the third most important wetland in the world, where the Senegal River meets the Atlantic Ocean, and is directly on a north-south migratory route. The best season for birding there is from November through March...

Senegal Pelagics

http://www.oceanwanderers.com/Senegal.html
The Cape Verde Peninsula, in the West African nation of Senegal, juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. The seawatching potential of this locality has only just been realized and initial results are very exciting (see Baillon and Dubois, 1992; Marr and Porter, 1992). From early September to mid-October, Bailon and Dubois observed an extensive passage on jaegers/skuas totalling nearly 1000 in 40 hours of counting, while Marr and Porter reported spectacular northward passage in April including hundreds of Wilson`s Storm-petrel, European Storm-petrel, Pomarine Jaegers, Sabine`s Gulls, and 1,000s of terns including over 10,000 Black Tern. In addition, numbers of South Polar Skua and Cape Verde Shearwaters occur offshore in the fall (Porter et al., 1997; Newell et al., 1997). A detailed on-line account of spring and fall observations prepared by Tony Marr, Dick Newell and Richard Porter (based on an article in the Mar 1998 Bulletin of the African Bird Club, vol. 5) can be found on the African Bird Club site...

Wolof terms for Birds in Senegal (Picc yi)

http://www.bcconline.org/wolof/Language/Vocab/Birds.htm
Just as it says the names of birds in a local language...

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