Congo

(formerly Zaire)

Hotspots

Congo Specialities Western Black-headed Oriole - Photo copyright Birdlife On-Line Magazine

Photo copyright Birdlife On-Line Magazine

African Hoopoe - Photo copyright Naoto Noda

Photo copyright Naoto Noda

Spectacled Weaver - Photo copyright Peter Nilssen

Photo copyright Peter Nilssen

....

....Birding in the Congo - This site is meant as a tool to aid future

birders in birding the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). The site was started on October 26th 1996, and is not complete. It is updated weekly. The Birding Localities section provides information on:

Garamba National Park
Okapi Wildlife Refuge
Niarembe Escarpment/Ishwa Plain
Lendu Plateau
Rwindi Lulimbi
Masisi

....

....A Congolese endemic - Prigogine's Greenbul - a brief encounter.

By Tommy Pedersen. This article was written for ABC - African Bird Club in August 1997. The Lendu Plateau is an isolated plateau situated west of Lake Albert, in the north-eastern Congo, surrounded by lowland savannah to the north, west and south, and Lake Albert to the east. On this dry and deforested plateau there are a few isolated forest-patches of slightly degraded montane forest,under serious threat from the surrounding villages. Birdlife in these forest-patches is very rich.

....

....Kahuzi-Biéga National Park - information on this Natural World

Heritage Site.

Factoids taken from Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley.

Tours and Guides

See DISCLAIMER

Photo copyright Naota Noda

Eco-Lodges

See DISCLAIMER

Endemics and Specialities

in the Congo

Information on endemics and specialities is derived from Sibley & Monroe checklists and bird distribution lists in Thayer's Birder's Diary - Version 2.05, supplemented by material found in Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley. African speciality birds, while not endemic, are those that can only be found in three or less countries of Africa. Information on endangered birds is derived from the IUCN Red List, Birdlife International. The endemic, endangered and speciality birds may be uncommon, extremely rare vagrants, may be extirpated in the country now or may only be present in migration. However, documented sightings of each species noted below have been made in the Congo.

Endemics in the Congo (for more information on Congo endemics, see Tommy Pederson's site on Birding in the Congo)
___ Bedford's Paradise-Flycatcher ___ Black-faced Waxbill ___ Chapin's Crombec ___ Chapin's Mountain-Babbler ___ Congo Peacock	___ Golden-naped Weaver ___ Itombwe Nightjar ___ Kabobo Apalis ___ Neumann's Coucal ___ Prigogine's Greenbul	___ Ruwet's Masked-Weaver ___ Schouteden's Swift ___ Stuhlmann's Double-collared ___ Sunbird ___ Yellow-legged Malimbe

...

Endangered Birds in the Congo (endemics are printed in *bold italic*)
Breeding Birds		Non-Breeding Birds
___ Albertine Owlet ___ *Black-faced Waxbill* ___ Chapin's Flycatcher ___ Congo Bay-Owl ___ *Congo Peacock* ___ *Golden-naped Weaver* ___ Grauer's Broadbill ___ Grauer's Scrub-Warbler ___ *Itombwe Nightjar* ___ *Kabobo Apalis* ___ Kungwe Apalis ___ Loango Weaver ___ Nahan's Francolin	___ *Prigogine's Greenbul* ___ Rockefeller's Sunbird ___ *Ruwet's Masked-Weaver* ___ *Schouteden's Swift* ___ Shelley's Crimson-wing ___ Spotted Ground-Thrush ___ Thin-billed Flycatcher-Warbler ___ Turner's Eremomela ___ Wattled Crane ___ White-headed Robin-Chat ___ Yellow-crested Helmet-shrike ___ Yellow-legged Weaver	___ Blue Swallow ___ Corn Crake ___ Lesser Kestrel

Other Speciality and Near-endemic Birds in the Congo (adapted from *Where to Watch Birds in Africa* - by Nigel Wheatley.)
___ African River-Martin ___ Albertine Owlet ___ Angola Batis ___ Angola Lark ___ Archer's Robin-Chat ___ Bannermann's Sunbird ___ Bar-winged Weaver ___ Black-and-rufous Swallow ___ Black-chinned Weaver ___ Black-faced Apalis ___ Black-headed Eremomela ___ Blue-headed Sunbird ___ Bob-tailed Weaver ___ Bocage's Akalat ___ Bocage's Sunbird ___ Bocage's Weaver ___ Boulton's Batis ___ Brazza's Martin ___ Chapin's Flycatcher ___ Collared Apalis ___ Congo Bay-Owl ___ Congo Sunbird ___ Congo Martin ___ Doherty's Bush-shrike ___ Dusky Babbler	___ Dusky Crimson-wing ___ Dwarf Honeyguide ___ Grant's Bluebill ___ Grauer's Broadbill ___ Grauer's Cuckoo-shrike ___ Grauer's Scrub-Warbler ___ Grauer's Warbler ___ Grey-headed Sunbird ___ Grimwood's Longclaw ___ Handsome Francolin ___ Itombwe Flycatcher ___ Ituri Batis ___ Katanga Masked-Weaver ___ Kivu Ground-Thrush ___ Laura's Woodland-Warbler ___ Loango Weaver ___ Mangbettu Sawwing ___ Nahan's Francolin ___ Neumann's Warbler ___ Oberlaender's Ground-Thrush ___ Pale-olive Greenbul ___ Pale-billed Firefinch ___ Papyrus Canary ___ Papyrus Gonolek ___ Perrin's Bushshrike	___ Prigogine's Sunbird ___ Purple-breasted Sunbird ___ Red-faced Woodland-Warbler ___ Red-collared Mountain-Babbler ___ Red-throated Alethe ___ Regal Sunbird ___ Rockefeller's Sunbird ___ Ruwenzori Batis ___ Ruwenzori Turaco ___ Salvadori's Eremomela ___ Sassi's Greenbul ___ Shelley's Crimson-wing ___ Sladen's Barbet ___ Strange Weaver ___ Stripe-breasted Tit ___ Stuhlmann's Double-collared ___ Sunbird ___ Turner's Eremomela ___ Uganda Woodland-Warbler ___ White-browed Crombec ___ White-headed Robin-Chat ___ White-tailed Greenbul ___ White-winged Scrub-Warbler ___ Yellow-crested Helmet-shrike ___ Yellow-eyed Black-Flycatcher

Weather and Best Birding

Information obtained from

and
from Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley.

Month	Birding Conditions	Brazzaville
Month	Birding Conditions	Temperature F / C	Rainfall (inches)
January		78.1 / 25.6	5.4
February		78.8 / 26.0	4.9
March		79.3 / 26.3	7.4
April		79.3 / 26.3	8.2
May		78.3 / 25.7	4.6
June		73.9 / 23.3	0.2
July	Good birding	71.2 / 21.8	0.0
August	Good birding	73.4 / 23.0	0.1
September	Best birding	77.0 / 25.0	1.5
October		78.1 / 25.6	5.7
November		78.1 / 25.6	9.2
December		77.9 / 25.5	6.6

Average Temperature

The monthly mean of the daily (24 hour) temperature.

Average Rainfall

This is the mean monthly precipitation, including rain, snow, hail etc.