The Gambia has some wonderful areas for birdwatching and I thoroughly recommend the areas near the main tourist hotels. For those looking to do some casual spotting there is always a good selection of fairly tame bird life around the hotels but to make the most of your time find a good guide. The guide I was lucky enough to meet is called Lamin Jobarteh and he is the executive director of the West African Bird Study Association. I would recommend anyone with a serious or passing interest in birding should contact Lamin before you go - he provides guided tours of the local areas and knows the birdwatching haunts very well. The following list is primarily due to his help:
Seen in the area around Palm Grove Hotel, near Banjul, April
Grey plantain eater Blue-bellied (Abyssinian) roller Little bee-eater Blue-cheeked bee-eater Beautiful long-tailed sunbird Whimbrel Oystercatcher Greenshank Curlew sandpiper Spur-winged plover Grey plover Bar-tailed godwit Hooded vulture Pied crow Speckled pigeon Pied kingfisher Black-headed gull Common sandpiper Cattle egret Common tern Caspian tern Common / Garden bulbul House sparrow Osprey Western reef heron Zisting cisticola Ringed plover Grey-headed gull Slender-billed gull Village weaver Red-eyed dove Red-billed hornbill Green wood hoopoe Brown babbler Long-tailed glossy starling Senegal coucal Little egret Gull-billed tern Sanderling Royal tern Senegal firefinch Long-tailed parakeet Palm swift Red-throated swallow Great white egret Vinaceous dove Black-billed wood dove Wire-tailed swallow
and along the road - Pink-backed pelican Giant kingfisher
Seen in Abuko Nature Reserve, April
Tawny-flanked prinia African thrush Squacco heron Jacana Night heron Grey heron Hooded vulture Red-eyed dove Long-tailed cormorant African darter Great white egret Fork-tailed kite Double-spurred francolin Ahanta francolin Violet turaco Green turaco Senegal coucal Black egret Vinaceous dove Green wood hoopoe Black-billed wood dove Black-winged weaver Red-necked weaver Grey-backed camaroptera Wattle-eyed flycatcher Splendid sunbird Yellow-fronted tailorbird Common sandpiper Palm-nut vulture Little green bee-eater Snowy-crowned robin chat Red-billed wood dove Grey woodpecker Western bluebill African paradise flycatcher Bronze mannikin Senegal firefinch Feral pigeon
Seen in Brufut Bird Reserve, April
Shikra Red-throated swallow Double-spurred francolin Swallow-tailed bee-eater Bronze mannikin Splendid sunbird Fanti- saw-wing swallow Scarlet-chested sunbird Variable sunbird Red-necked weaver Vinaceous dove Grey plantain eater Spur-winged plover Red-billed hornbill Violet turaco Namaqua dove Honeyguide Green-backed erememola Pied-winged swallow Red-eyed dove Pied crow Little bee-eater Whistling cisticola Harrier hawk Laughing dove Tawny-flanked prinia Purple glossy starling Black-billed wood dove Stone partridge Fork-tailed drongo Pin-tailed whyda Grey hornbill Little buzzard Lavender waxbill Yellow-billed parrot Yellow-billed shrike Black magpie Pied hornbill
Seen at the beach at Tanjeh / Tanji, April
White wagtail Ringed plover Sanderling Grey headed gull Slender-billed gull Cattled egret Turnstone Bar-tailed godwit Hooded vulture Grey-headed sparrow Rufous-crowned roller Grey plover Grey heron Common sandpiper Long-tailed cormorant Lesser-crested tern Lesser black-backed gull Village indigo bird Barn swallow Black-shouldered kite
Seen around the Kotu Creek area - sewage works, golf course, fields, coastal lagoon - April
Black-winged stilt Ruff Wood sandpiper White faced whistling duck Black crake Little grebe Hooded vulture Long-tailed parakeet Spur-winged plover Cattle egret Grey heron Grey-headed gull Slender-billed gull Senegal coucal Squacco heron GreenshankLong-tailed cormorant Shikra Village weaver Red-cheeked cordon bleu Pied kingfisher Great white egret Little bee-eater Jacana Black-headed heron Yellow-billed shrike Black heron Senegal thick-knee Palm-nut vulture Senegal wattled plover Wire-tailed swallow Yellow-crowned gonolek Yellow-bellied parrot Blue-bellied roller Common sandpiper Splendid sunbird Red-eyed dove Whimbrel Western reef heron Vinaceous dove Laughing dove Green wood hoopoe Sacred ibis Intermediate egret Grey-headed sparrow Bar-tailed godwit Senegal firefinch Black magpie Double-spurred francolin Black-headed plover Grey plantain eater Fork-tailed kite Yellow-bellied parrot