There are close to 1000 species of birds that live in Cameroon. The reason for this high density of birds can be explained if one considers that Cameroon is often considered a “miniature Africa” with all types of habitats that can be seen in the rest of the continent as well. This includes the coast, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas.
While it is not the official national bird, the Gray-necked Rockfowl holds major significance for the people of Cameroon. Not only is Cameroon the sole nation to have a law in place to protect it, the indigenous people respect and even fear it to an extent.
List of Common Birds Found in Cameroon
Native Birds
- Abyssinian Roller
- African Fish-eagle
- African Gray Hornbill
- African Gray Parrot
- African Jacana
- African Paradise-flycatcher
- African Penguin
- African Pygmy Goose
- African Sacred Ibis
- African Wood Owl
- Bamenda Apalis
- Banded Green Sunbird
- Banded Prinia
- Banded Wattle-eye
- Bannerman’s Sunbird
- Bannerman’s Turaco
- Bannerman’s Weaver
- Bates’ Weaver
- Bearded Barbet
- Black-bellied Bustard
- Black-collared Lovebird
- Black Crake
- Black-headed Heron
- Black-shouldered Kite
- Blue-bellied Roller
- Blue-breasted Bee-eater
- Böhm’s Bee-eater
- Brown-backed Woodpecker
- Brown-crowned Tchagra
- Cameroon Francolin
- Cameroon Mountain Greenbul
- Cameroon Olive-greenbul
- Cassin’s Hawk-Eagle
- Cassin’s Honeyguide
- Chestnut Wattle-eye
- Common Bulbul
- Common Hoopoe
- Common Loon
- Common Waxbill
- Crested Francolin
- Crimson Seedcracker
- Crossley’s Ground Thrush
- Crowned Hornbill
- Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
- Egyptian Goose
- Eurasian Hoopoe
- Fan-tailed Widowbird
- Fiery-necked Nightjar
- Gabar Goshawk
- Giant Kingfisher
- Gray-headed Broadbill
- Gray-headed Kingfisher
- Gray-necked Rockfowl
- Great Blue Turaco
- Green-breasted Bushshrike
- Green-breasted Pitta
- Green Wood Hoopoe
- Hadada Ibis
- Hamerkop
- Hartlaub’s Duck
- Hartlaub’s Turaco
- Helmeted Guineafowl
- Hooded Vulture
- Lanner Falcon
- Little Bee-eater
- Little Grebe
- Long-crested Eagle
- Lühder’s Bushshrike
- Malachite Kingfisher
- Marabou Stork
- Martial Eagle
- Montagu’s Harrier
- Mount Cameroon Francolin
- Mount Cameroon Speckle-throat
- Mount Cameroon Speirops
- Mount Kupe Bushshrike
- Mount Kupe Scrub Warbler
- Northern Puffback
- Northern Red-billed Hornbill
- Olive Long-tailed Cuckoo
- Orange Weaver
- Pale-billed Hornbill
- Pel’s Fishing Owl
- Pied Crow
- Pied Kingfisher
- Pin-tailed Whydah
- Purple Starling
- Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher
- Red-billed Firefinch
- Red-chested Cuckoo
- Red-headed Lovebird
- Red-headed Malimbe
- Red-headed Picathartes
- Red-throated Bee-eater
- Red-vented Malimbe
- Red-winged Pytilia
- Rock Pratincole
- Ross’s Turaco
- Rufous-bellied Heron
- Rufous-crowned Eremomela
- Rufous-naped Lark
- Rufous-sided Broadbill
- Saddle-billed Stork
- Scarlet-chested Sunbird
- Senegal Parrot
- Shelley’s Oliveback
- Shikra
- Shoebill
- Snowy-crowned Robin-chat
- Speckled Pigeon
- Spur-winged Goose
- Stone Partridge
- Stripe-breasted Tit
- Sulphur-breasted Bushshrike
- Tawny-flanked Prinia
- Thick-billed Cuckoo
- Vermiculated Fishing-owl
- Verreaux’s Eagle-owl
- Village Weaver
- Violet-backed Starling
- Wahlberg’s Eagle
- Wattled Crane
- Western Bluebill
- Western Marsh Harrier
- White-backed Vulture
- White-bellied Kingfisher
- White-bellied Robin-Chat
- White-bellied Wren-Warbler
- White-breasted Cuckooshrike
- White-browed Forest Flycatcher
- White-crested Hornbill
- White-faced Whistling Duck
- White-headed Lapwing
- White-necked Rockfowl
- White-spotted Flufftail
- White-throated Bee-eater
- White-throated Mountain Babbler
- Woodland Kingfisher
- Yellow-billed Duck
- Yellow-billed Kite
- Yellow-billed Shrike
- Yellow-crowned Gonolek
- Yellow-headed Picathartes
- Yellow-mantled Weaver
- Abyssinian Ground-hornbill
- Adamawa Turtle-dove
- Afep Pigeon
- African Black Duck
- African Collared-dove
- African Crake
- African Cuckoo
- African Cuckoo-hawk
- African Emerald Cuckoo
- African Finfoot
- African Goshawk
- African Gray Woodpecker
- African Green-pigeon
- African Harrier-hawk
- African Hawk-eagle
- African Hobby
- African Palm-Swift
- African Piculet
- African Pied Hornbill
- African Rail
- African Scops-owl
- African Spoonbill
- African Swamphen
- African Swift
- Akun Eagle-owl
- Allen’s Gallinule
- Arabian Bustard
- Ayres’s Hawk-eagle
- Banded Snake-eagle
- Bare-cheeked Trogon
- Bar-tailed Godwit
- Bar-tailed Trogon
- Bateleur
- Bates’s Nightjar
- Bates’s Swift
- Bat Hawk
- Beaudouin’s Snake-eagle
- Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
- Black-bellied Plover
- Black-billed Wood-dove
- Black-casqued Hornbill
- Black-collared Apalis
- Black Coucal
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Black-crowned Tchagra
- Black Cuckoo
- Black Dwarf Hornbill
- Black-faced Rufous-warbler
- Black Goshawk
- Black Guineafowl
- Black-headed Gonolek
- Black-headed Lapwing
- Black Heron
- Black Kite
- Black-necked Wattle-eye
- Black Spinetail
- Black-tailed Godwit
- Black-throated Coucal
- Black-winged Kite
- Blue-billed Teal
- Blue-headed Coucal
- Blue-headed Wood-dove
- Blue Malkoha
- Blue Quail
- Blue-Spotted Wood-dove
- Booted Eagle
- Bristle-nosed Barbet
- Bronze-naped Pigeon
- Brown-chested Lapwing
- Brown-eared Woodpecker
- Brown Nightjar
- Brown Snake-eagle
- Brown-throated Wattle-eye
- Brubru
- Bruce’s Green-pigeon
- Buff-Spotted Flufftail
- Buff-Spotted Woodpecker
- Cameroon Pigeon
- Cape Teal
- Cardinal Woodpecker
- Cassin’s Hawk-eagle
- Cassin’s Spinetail
- Cattle Egret
- Chattering Cisticola
- Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
- Chestnut-flanked Sparrowhawk
- Chestnut-headed Flufftail
- Chubb’s Cisticola
- Clapperton’s Francolin
- Common Cuckoo
- Common Greenshank
- Common Ostrich
- Common Pochard
- Common Redshank
- Common Ringed Plover
- Common Swift
- Congo Serpent-eagle
- Croaking Cisticola
- Crowned Eagle
- Curlew Sandpiper
- Dark Chanting-goshawk
- Denham’s Bustard
- Dideric Cuckoo
- Dorst’s Cisticola
- Double-Spurred Francolin
- Double-toothed Barbet
- Dwarf Bittern
- Egyptian Plover
- Egyptian Vulture
- Eleonora’s Falcon
- Elliot’s Woodpecker
- Eurasian Curlew
- Eurasian Kestrel
- Eurasian Marsh-harrier
- Eurasian Moorhen
- Eurasian Nightjar
- Eurasian Scops-owl
- Eurasian Wryneck
- European Honey-buzzard
- European Turtle-dove
- Fanti Drongo
- Ferruginous Duck
- Fiery-breasted Bushshrike
- Fine-Spotted Woodpecker
- Fire-bellied Woodpecker
- Forbes’s Plover
- Four-banded Sandgrouse
- Fox Kestrel
- Fraser’s Eagle-owl
- Freckled Nightjar
- Fulvous Whistling-duck
- Gabon Boubou
- Gabon Coucal
- Gabon Woodpecker
- Garganey
- Glossy-backed Drongo
- Glossy Ibis
- Golden-crowned Woodpecker
- Golden-tailed Woodpecker
- Goliath Heron
- Gosling’s Apalis
- Grasshopper Buzzard
- Gray Apalis
- Gray-green Bushshrike
- Gray-headed Batis
- Gray-headed Bushshrike
- Gray Heron
- Grayish Eagle-owl
- Gray Kestrel
- Gray Parrot
- Gray-throated Barbet
- Gray-throated Rail
- Great Egret
- Greater Flamingo
- Greater Honeyguide
- Greater Painted-Snipe
- Great Spotted Cuckoo
- Green-backed Camaroptera
- Green-backed Eremomela
- Green-backed Woodpecker
- Green Longtail
- Green Sandpiper
- Green-winged Teal
- Guinea Turaco
- Hairy-breasted Barbet
- Harlequin Quail
- Heuglin’s Francolin
- Horus Swift
- Intermediate Egret
- Kentish Plover
- Kittlitz’s Plover
- Klaas’s Cuckoo
- Knob-billed Duck
- Lappet-faced Vulture
- Latham’s Francolin
- Laughing Dove
- Least Honeyguide
- Lemon Dove
- Lesser Flamingo
- Lesser Honeyguide
- Lesser Jacana
- Lesser Moorhen
- Lesser Spotted Eagle
- Levaillant’s Cuckoo
- Little Bittern
- Little Egret
- Little Gray Woodpecker
- Little Ringed Plover
- Little Swift
- Lizard Buzzard
- Long-tailed Hawk
- Long-tailed Nightjar
- Long-toed Lapwing
- Lowland Sooty Boubou
- Lyre-tailed Honeyguide
- Maned Owl
- Many-colored Bushshrike
- Marsh Owl
- Marsh Sandpiper
- Marsh Tchagra
- Melancholy Woodpecker
- Meyer’s Parrot
- Monteiro’s Bushshrike
- Mottled Spinetail
- Mottled Swift
- Mourning Collared-dove
- Naked-faced Barbet
- Namaqua Dove
- Narina Trogon
- Niam-niam Parrot
- Nkulengu Rail
- Northern Pintail
- Northern White-faced Owl
- Olive-green Camaroptera
- Olive Ibis
- Oriole Warbler
- Osprey
- Ovambo Sparrowhawk
- Pallid Harrier
- Palm-nut Vulture
- Pearl-Spotted Owlet
- Pennant-winged Nightjar
- Peregrine Falcon
- Pied Cuckoo
- Pink-footed Puffback
- Piping Hornbill
- Plain Nightjar
- Plumed Guineafowl
- Purple Heron
- Red-billed Dwarf Hornbill
- Red-cheeked Wattle-eye
- Red-chested Flufftail
- Red-chested Owlet
- Red-eyed Dove
- Red-eyed Puffback
- Red-faced Cisticola
- Red-footed Falcon
- Red-fronted Parrot
- Red-fronted Prinia
- Red Knot
- Red-necked Buzzard
- Red-necked Falcon
- Red-pate Cisticola
- Red-rumped Tinkerbird
- Red-thighed Sparrowhawk
- Red-winged Gray Warbler
- Red-winged Prinia
- Ring-necked Francolin
- River Prinia
- Rock-loving Cisticola
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Ruff
- Rufous-cheeked Nightjar
- Rufous Cisticola
- Rufous-necked Wryneck
- Rüppell’s Griffon
- Sabine’s Puffback
- Sabine’s Spinetail
- Sandy Scops-owl
- Savile’s Bustard
- Scaly Francolin
- Scarce Swift
- Schlegel’s Francolin
- Scissor-tailed Kite
- Secretarybird
- Senegal Batis
- Senegal Coucal
- Senegal Eremomela
- Sharpe’s Drongo
- Shelley’s Eagle-owl
- Shining Drongo
- Short-toed Snake-eagle
- Siffling Cisticola
- Singing Cisticola
- Sjostedt’s Owlet
- Speckle-breasted Woodpecker
- Speckled Tinkerbird
- Spot-breasted Ibis
- Spotted Honeyguide
- Spotted Redshank
- Spur-winged Lapwing
- Squacco Heron
- Square-tailed Nightjar
- Standard-winged Nightjar
- Stout Cisticola
- Streaky-breasted Flufftail
- Striated Heron
- Striped Crake
- Swamp Nightjar
- Tambourine Dove
- Tawny Eagle
- Three-banded Plover
- Tropical Boubou
- Tullberg’s Woodpecker
- Velvet-mantled Drongo
- Verreaux’s Batis
- Vieillot’s Barbet
- Vinaceous Dove
- Violet Turaco
- Wahlberg’s Eagle
- Wahlberg’s Honeyguide
- Wattled Lapwing
- West African Batis
- Western Black-headed Batis
- Western Boubou
- Western Crested Guineafowl
- Western Plantain-eater
- Western Reef-heron
- Western Tinkerbird
- Whimbrel
- Whistling Cisticola
- White-backed Duck
- White-backed Night-heron
- White-bellied Bustard
- White-chinned Prinia
- White-crested Bittern
- White-crested Turaco
- White-fronted Plover
- White-headed Barbet
- White-headed Vulture
- White-naped Pigeon
- White-rumped Swift
- White-Spotted Wattle-eye
- White-tailed Warbler
- White-thighed Hornbill
- White-throated Francolin
- Willcock’s Honeyguide
- Winding Cisticola
- Wood Sandpiper
- Yellow-bellied Eremomela
- Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye
- Yellow-billed Barbet
- Yellow-billed Turaco
- Yellow-breasted Boubou
- Yellow-browed Camaroptera
- Yellow-casqued Hornbill
- Yellow-footed Honeyguide
- Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
- Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
- Yellow-Spotted Barbet
- Yellow-throated Cuckoo
- Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
- Zenker’s Honeyguide
- Zitting Cisticola
Non-native Birds
- Alpine Swift
- Common Quail
- Eared Grebe
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Marbled Teal
- Nubian Bustard
- Rock Pigeon
- Senegal Lapwing
- Thick-billed Cuckoo
While there is a wide diversity of birds to see in Cameroon, birdwatching activity is rare in the country. However, there are quite a few places to experience what Cameroon has to offer, including Korup National Park, Waza National Park, and for the more adventurous, the highest mountain in all of western Africa, Mount Cameroon. The best time to go birding would be between December and April when it is dry.
