Birds of Nigeria

List of Common Birds Found in Nigeria

Native Birds

• Abyssinian Roller
• African Barred Owlet
• African Blue Flycatcher
• African Blue Tit
• African Broadbill
• African Crowned Eagle
• African Darter
• African Emerald Cuckoo
• African Finfoot
• African Fish Eagle
• African Goshawk
• African Gray Hornbill
• African Gray Parrot
• African Gray Woodpecker
• African Green Pigeon
• African Harrier-hawk
• African Hobby
• African Moustached Warbler
• African Palmnut Vulture
• African Palm Swift
• African Paradise Flycatcher
• African Pied Hornbill
• African Pied Wagtail
• African Pygmy Kingfisher
• African Sacred Ibis 
• African Skimmer
• African Swamphen
• African Thrush
• African Thrush
• African Yellow Warbler
• African Yellow White-eye
• Anambra Waxbill 
• Ayres’s Hawk-eagle
• Bat hawk
• Bearded Barbet
• Beautiful Sunbird 
• Black-and-white Mannikin
• Black Bee-eater
• Black Crowned Crane
• Black-headed Batis
• Black-headed Gonolek
• Black-headed Heron
• Black Scimitarbill
• Black-throated Coucal
• Black-winged Kite
• Black-winged Red Bishop
• Blue-breasted Kingfisher
• Blue-moustached Bee-eater
• Blue-throated Brown Sunbird
• Blue-throated Roller
• Bristle-nosed Barbet
• Brown-backed Woodpecker
• Brown-throated Wattle-eye
• Brown Twinspot
• Bush Petronia 
• Cassin’s Honeyguide
• Chestnut-capped Flycatcher
• Chestnut-crowned Sparrow-weaver
• Collared Sunbird
• Common Hoopoe 
• Copper Sunbird
• Double-spurred Francolin
• Double-spurred Spurfowl
• Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
• Fanti Saw-wing
• Fire-bellied Woodpecker
• Gray-headed Kingfisher
• Gray Parrot
• Great Blue Turaco
• Great Egret
• Green Woodhoopoe
• Hadada Ibis 
• Hamerkop
• Hartlaub’s Duck
• Helmeted Guinea Fowl 
• Hildebrandt’s Starling
• Hooded Vulture 
• Ibadan Malimbe 
• Jos Plateau Indigobird 
• Latham’s Francolin
• Little Bee-eater
• Little Green Bee-eater
• Little Greenbul
• Little Sparrowhawk
• Little Weaver
• Long-tailed Glossy Starling
• Long-tailed Hawk
• Long-tailed Nightjar
• Marabou Stork 
• Neumann’s Starling 
• Northern Puffback
• Northern Red-billed Hornbill 
• Northern Red Bishop
• Olive-bellied Sunbird
• Oriole Warbler
• Pied Crow 
• Pied Kingfisher 
• Pin-tailed Whydah 
• Preuss’s Swallow
• Purple Swamphen
• Red-chested Goshawk
• Red-chested Owlet
• Red-headed Lovebird
• Red-headed Weaver
• Red-shouldered Cuckoo
• Red-shouldered Cuckooshrike
• Red-throated Bee-eater
• Red-throated Wryneck
• Rock Firefinch 
• Rock Pratincole
• Rufous-crowned Roller
• Rufous Flycatcher-thrush
• Senegal Parrot
• Shikra
• Shining-blue Kingfisher
• Shining Drongo
• Speckled Pigeon 
• Spotted Thick-knee
• Thick-billed Weaver
• Village Weaver
• Violet-backed Starling
• Violet Turaco
• Wahlberg’s Eagle
• Water thick-knee
• Western Banded Snake Eagle
• Western Bluebill
• Western Bronze-naped Pigeon
• Western Gray Plantain-eater
• White-backed Night Heron
• White-backed Vulture
• White-bellied Kingfisher
• White-breasted Cuckooshrike
• White-crested Hornbill
• White-crowned Lapwing
• White-headed Lapwing
• White-spotted Flufftail
• White-throated Bee-eater 
• White-throated Francolin
• Woodland Kingfisher
• Yellow-bellied Hyliota
• Yellow-bellied Sunbird
• Yellow-billed Kite
• Yellow-billed Oxpecker
• Yellow-billed Shrike
• Yellow-browed Camaroptera
• Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
• Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Non-native Birds

• African Swift
• Black Spinetail
• Brown Nightjar
• Corn Crake
• Eared Grebe
• Lesser Flamingo
• Marbled Teal
• Nubian Bustard

Some of the best birding sites in Nigeria include Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Kainji Lake National Park, and Yankari National Park. The peak season for birdwatching in Nigeria typically occurs during the dry season, which extends from November to February.