Birds of the Gambia

List of Common Birds Found in the Gambia

Native Birds

• Abyssinian Roller
• African Finfoot
• African Fish Eagle
• African Gray Hornbill
• African Green Pigeon
• African Gray Hornbill
• African Harrier-hawk
• African Jacana
• African Palm Swift
• African Pied Hornbill
• African Pygmy Kingfisher
• African Wattled Lapwing
• Beautiful Sunbird
• Black-billed Wood Dove
• Black-crowned Tchagra
• Black-headed Gull
• Black-headed Heron
• Black Kite
• Black-throated Coucal
• Blue-bellied Roller
• Blue-breasted Kingfisher
• Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
• Blue-spotted Wood Dove
• Brown Snake Eagle
• Cardinal Woodpecker
• Chestnut-backed Sparrow Weaver
• Common Bulbul
• Common Kestrel
• Common Redstart
• Common Sandpiper
• Copper Sunbird
• Crowned Lapwing
• Double-spurred Francolin
• Egyptian Plover
• Eurasian Hoopoe
• European Bee-eater
• European Roller
• Fanti Saw-wing
• Fork-tailed Drongo
• Giant Kingfisher
• Grasshopper Buzzard
• Great Blue Turaco
• Great Cormorant
• Great Egret
• Greater Painted-Snipe
• Great White Pelican
• Gray-headed Gull
• Gray Heron
• Grayish Eagle Owl
• Hadada Ibis
• Hammerkop
• Hooded Vulture
• Intermediate Egret
• Klaas’s Cuckoo
• Klaas’s Cuckooshrike
• Lappet-faced Vulture
• Laughing Dove
• Levaillant’s Cuckoo
• Little Bee-eater
• Little Grebe
• Little Ringed Plover
• Long-crested Eagle
• Long-tailed Glossy Starling
• Long-tailed Nightjar
• Malachite Kingfisher
• Marsh Harrier
• Martial Eagle
• Montagu’s Harrier
• Namaqua Dove
• Northern Black Flycatcher
• Northern Carmine Bee-eater
• Northern Crombec
• Northern Pintail
• Northern Red Bishop
• Osprey
• Pearl-spotted Owlet
• Pied Crow
• Pink-backed Pelican
• Plain-backed Pipit
• Purple Heron
• Red-billed Hornbill
• Red-billed Quelea
• Red-chested Swallow
• Red-eyed Dove
• Red-necked Falcon
• Red-shouldered Cuckoo-Shrike
• Red-throated Bee-eater
• Rufous-crowned Roller
• Sacred Ibis
• Senegal Coucal
• Shikra
• Short-toed Eagle
• Singing Cisticola
• Slender-billed Gull
• Spur-winged Lapwing
• Village Weaver
• Violet Turaco
• Western Bluebill
• Western Reef Heron
• White-faced Whistling Duck
• White-rumped Seedeater
• Yellow-billed Stork

Non-native Birds

• African Emerald Cuckoo
• African Oystercatcher
• African Rail
• Alpine Swift
• American Wigeon
• Arabian Bustard
• Black Cuckoo
• Eared Grebe
• House Sparrow
• Indian Silverbill
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Swamp Nightjar

Some of the best birding sites in the Gambia include the Abuko Nature Reserve, the Brufut Woods Community Nature Reserve, and the Tanji Bird Reserve. The peak season for birdwatching is during the dry season from November to April, as numerous migratory bird species arrive from Europe and other parts of Africa.