Republic of Equatorial Guinea

Fraser's Eagle-Owl Bubo poensis ©Jason Boyce Website
Birding Equatorial Guinea

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a Spanish-speaking country located in Central Africa. With an area of 28,000 km2 it is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa, having a population estimated at half a million. It comprises two parts: a Continental Region (Río Muni); and an Insular Region containing Annobón island, Bioko island (formerly Fernando Po) where the capital Malabo is situated, and several offshore islands like Corisco.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just north of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the east is the mainland region. Equatorial Guinea is bordered by Cameroon on the north, Gabon on the south and east, and the Gulf of Guinea on the west, where the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe is located between Bioko and Annobón. Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name is suggestive of its location near both the equator and the Gulf of Guinea. It is one of the few territories in mainland Africa where Spanish is an official language, besides the Spanish exclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.Equatorial Guinea is the third smallest country in continental Africa in terms of population. (Seychelles, The Gambia, Djibouti, Rwanda, Burundi, Cape Verde, Comoros, Swaziland, and São Tomé and Príncipe are smaller in terms of area, and Djibouti and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic have smaller populations (though the latter’s population is disputed). It is also the smallest United Nations member from continental Africa. The discovery of sizeable petroleum reserves in recent years is altering the economic and political status of the country.Despite its name, no part of Equatorial Guinea’s territory lies on the equator.

Few birdwatchers have ever visited this small country, so ornithological records are limited and many areas have not been surveyed.

Contributors
Number of Species
  • Number of bird species: 835

    (As at April 2020)
Endemics
  • Number of endemics: 3

    Bioko Batis Batis poensis, Bioko Speirops Speirops brunneus & Annobon White-eye Zosterops griseovirescens
Checklist
  • iGoTerra Checklist

    iGoTerra Checklist
    Fatbirder Associate iGoTerra offers the most comprehensive and up to date birds lists on the web
Useful Reading

  • Birds of Western Africa

    | By Nik Borrow & Ron Demey | Christopher Helm | 2014 | Paperback | 592 pages, 266 plates with colour illustrations; colour distribution maps | ISBN: 9781472905680 Buy this book from NHBS.com
  • Las Aves de Bioko, Guinea Ecuatorial: Guía de Campo

    | By Jaime Perez de Val | Edilesa | 1996 | Paperback | 240 pages, Colour plates, b/w illlustrations, maps | Text Spanish | ISBN: 9788480121453 Buy this book from NHBS.com
Organisations
  • African Bird Club

    Website
    Few birdwatchers have ever visited this small country in West Africa or even know where it is situated, ornithological records are limited and many areas have not been surveyed. Only about 340 species have been recorded on the mainland, Rio Muni, whilst 198 species have been recorded on the island of Bioko and 19 species on the island of Annobón. Bioko and Annobón both have endemic species and subspecies. It is a country therefore which offers potential opportunities for the professional ornithologist and perhaps much of interest for the more adventurous birdwatcher…
  • Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program

    Website
    The Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program (BBPP) is a research partnership between Drexel University in Philadelphia and the Universidad Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial (UNGE) in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. BBPP's mission is the conservation of Bioko Island's biodiversity, especially its critically endangered primates and nesting marine turtles, through the development of economically self-sustaining programs that demonstrate the value of conserving Equatorial Guinea's unique wildlife and wild spaces.
  • Equatorial Guinea Bird Initiative

    Webpage
    Pioneering avian research, education and conservation in an African nation that is remarkably unknown to scientists: Equatorial Guinea
  • West African Ornithological Society

    Website
    The West African Ornithological Society grew out of the Nigerian Ornithologists’ Society, which was founded in February 1964. Its object is to promote scientific interest in the birds of West Africa and to further the region’s ornithology, mainly by means of its journal Malimbus (formerly the Bulletin of the Nigerian Ornithologists’ Society). This journal is biannual and bilingual, a unique feature in Africa.The West African Ornithological Society grew out of the Nigerian Ornithologists’ Society, which was founded in February 1964. Its object is to promote scientific interest in the birds of West Africa and to further the region’s ornithology, mainly by means of its journal Malimbus (formerly the Bulletin of the Nigerian Ornithologists’ Society). This journal is biannual and bilingual, a unique feature in Africa.
Reserves

Abbreviations Key

  • NP Monte Alén

    InformationSatellite View
    It was established in 1990 in the centre of the country with an area of 2,000 square kilometres (770 square miles). The park has recorded 265 species of birds. Some of the prominent species include three montane species, Coracina caesia, Dryoscopus angolensis and Phylloscopus herberti; Phylloscopus budongoensis, the only warblers species found in the park; Picathartes oreas; Melignomon zenkeri; Muscicapa tessmanni and Batis minima; possibly Apus sladeniae.
  • NP Pico Basilé

    InformationSatellite View
    ...a protected area with the status of national park on the island of Bioko in the northern part of the African country of Equatorial Guinea. It stands out for its diversity of landscapes and vegetation and especially for its population of primates, that are threatened by the illegal hunting.
Other Links
  • Equatorial Guinea Birds

    Information
    The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is comprised of three separateregions, two of which are islands in the Gulf of Guinea and the third is part of the neighbouring mainland.

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