Republic of Somaliland

Somaliland is an unrecognised country in the Horn of Africa. It is located in the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden and bordered by Djibouti to the northwest, Ethiopia to the south and west, and Somalia to the east. It broke away from Somalia after the 1991 civil war. Its claimed territory has an area of 176,120 square kilometres (68,000 square miles), It has 850 kilometre (528 mile) coastline with the majority lying along the Gulf of Aden. It has a population of approximately 6.2 million people. The capital and largest city is Hargeisa with about 1.25 million inhabitants.

Somaliland’s climate is a mixture of wet and dry conditions. The northern part of the region is hilly, and in many places the altitude ranges between 3,000 and 6,900 feet above sea level. The Awdal, Sahil and Maroodi Jeex regions are fertile and mountainous, while Togdheer is mostly semi-desert with little fertile greenery around. The Awdal region is also known for its offshore islands, coral reefs and mangroves.

Ceel Sheekh – ©Lakmi00, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

A scrub-covered, semi-desert plain referred as the Guban lies parallel to the Gulf of Aden littoral. With a width of twelve kilometres in the west to as little as two kilometres in the east, the plain is bisected by watercourses that are essentially beds of dry sand except during the rainy seasons. When the rains arrive, the Guban’s low bushes and grass clumps transform into lush vegetation. This coastal strip is part of the Ethiopian xeric grasslands and shrub-lands ecoregion.

Cal Madow Mountains – ©Abdirisak, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cal Madow is a mountain range in the eastern part of the country. Extending from the northwest of Erigavo to several kilometres west of the city of Bosaso in neighbouring Somalia, it features Somaliland’s highest peak, Shimbiris, which sits at an elevation of about 7,927 feet. The rugged east-west ranges of the Karkaar Mountains also lie to the interior of the Gulf of Aden littoral. In the central regions, the northern mountain ranges give way to shallow plateaus and typically dry watercourses that are referred to locally as the Ogo. The Ogo’s western plateau, in turn, gradually merges into the Haud, an important grazing area for livestock. In the east, the Haud is separated from the Ain and Nugal valleys by the Buur Dhaab mountain range.

Somaliland is located north of the equator. It is semi-arid. The average daily temperatures range from 25 to 35 °C. The sun passes vertically overhead twice a year, in April and in August or September. Somaliland consists of three main topographic zones: a coastal plain (Guban), the coastal range (Ogo), and a plateau (Hawd). The coastal plain is a zone with high temperatures and low rainfall. Summer temperatures in the region average over 38 °C. However, temperatures come down during the winter, and both human and livestock populations increase dramatically in the region. The coastal range (Ogo) is a high plateau to the immediate south of Guban. Its elevation ranges from 6,000 feet above sea level in the West to 7,000 feet in the East. Rainfall is heavier there than in Guban, although it varies considerably within the zone. The plateau (Hawd) region lies to the south of Ogo range. It is generally more heavily populated during the wet season, when surface water is available. It is also an important area for grazing. Somalilanders recognise four seasons in the year; GU and Hagaa comprise spring and summer in that order, and Dayr and Jiilaal correspond to autumn and winter, respectively.

V©ladimir Lysenko (I.), CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The average annual rainfall is less than 18 inches in some parts of country and most of it comes during Gu and Dayr. Gu, which is the first, or major, rainy season (late March, April, May, and early June), is where Ogo range and Hawd experience the heaviest rainfall. This constitutes the period of fresh grazing and abundant surface water. It is also the breeding season for livestock. Hagaa (from late June through August) is usually dry although there are often some scattered showers in the Ogo range, these are known as Karan rains. Hagaa tends to be hot and windy in most parts of the country. Dayr (September, October, and early November), which roughly corresponds to autumn, is the second, or minor, wet season; the amount of precipitation is generally less than that of Gu. Jilaal, or winter, falls in the coolest and driest months of the year (from late November to early March). It is a season of thirst. Hawd receive virtually no rainfall in winter. The rainfall in the Guban zone, known as ‘Hays’, comes from December to February. The humidity of the country varies from 63% in the dry season to 82% in the wet season.

Birding Somaliland

The wildlife of Somaliland, both the flora and fauna is extremely diverse due to the country’s location between the temperate and the tropical zones and bordering on the Red Sea. The coastal region being more humid due to its proximity to the ocean. Somaliland is home to over 727 bird species and boasts over 177 species of mammals.

In some areas, the mountains are covered with shrubs such as pyracantha, jasmine, poinsettia, and a varied assortment of evergreens. Caraway, carcade, cardamom, coriander, incense, myrrh, and red pepper are common.

Among larger mammals are lion, Sudan cheetah, reticulated giraffe, hamadryas baboon, civet, serval, African bush elephant, bushpig, Soemmerring’s gazelle, antelope, ibex, kudu, dik-dik, oribi, reedbuck, Somali wild ass, Grévy’s zebra and hyena.  Since elephants are migratory, they are found in a variety of habitats, including woodland, savanna, and tropical forest.

Unsurprisingly, with its unsettled modern history, this is a rarely-visited region, so birding here can be a truly awesome experience visiting one of the ornithologically least-known destinations in Africa.

Naasa Hablood (Virgin’s Breast Mountain), Hargeisa – ©Lakmi00, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The near-endemic Somali Wheatear, Somali Bee-eater and Somali Bulbul can all be found close to Hargeisa, particularly in the surrounding rocky hillsides that are home to the rare Beira antelope. The gorges close to the port of Berbera are good for the endemic Somali Pigeon. The thorn bush countryside southeast of Burco (or Burao) and close to the Ethiopian border can be excellent for Heuglin’s Bustard, the near-endemic Little Brown Bustard, Philippa’s (or Short-billed) and Somali Crombecs, Arabian Warbler, Collared Lark, Red-naped Bush-shrike, White-crowned Starling, Somali Sparrow and Northern Grosbeak-Canary. It is lark heaven with other species such as Somali, Gillett‘s, Lesser Hoopoe, Sharpe’s, Somali Short-toed and Blanford’s Larks. Heuglin’s Bustard can also be found across the Ben Cade Plains as can Spotted Sandgrouse and a variety of larks. Brown-tailed Rock Chat may appear in suitable habitat almost anywhere. In the north, Daallo Forest Reserve can hold other prime target species such as Archer’s Buzzard, Archer’s Francolin, Arabian Scops Owl, Somali Thrush, Brown-rumped Seedeater, Somali Golden-winged Grosbeak and Warsangli Linnet.