Benin Ramsar wetland
Lake Nokoué
91 bird species recorded; the most in January.
Minyimin · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
58 species in January.34 species in February.37 species in March.25 species in April.20 species in May.9 species in June.36 species in July.25 species in August.14 species in September.37 species in October.53 species in November.29 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
91 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 91Speciesrecorded more than once
- 32Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 0ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 975Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 8Raptors
- 1Owls
- 11Waders
- 5Gulls & seabirds
- 1Ducks & geese
- 17Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Storks & cranes
- 27Songbirds
- 20Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 91 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors8 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Black-winged KiteElanus caeruleus
- ShikraAccipiter badius
- Yellow-billed KiteMilvus aegyptius
- Western Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus
- LannerFalco biarmicus
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Western Barn OwlTyto alba
Waders11 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- African JacanaActophilornis africanus
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
- Spur-winged LapwingVanellus spinosus
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Forbes's PloverCharadrius forbesi
- Green SandpiperTringa ochropus
- Collared PratincoleGlareola pratincola
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
Gulls & seabirds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black TernChlidonias niger
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Royal TernThalasseus maximus
- Whiskered TernChlidonias hybrida
Ducks & geese1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduata
Herons, ibises & grebes17 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Long-tailed CormorantMicrocarbo africanus
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Black HeronEgretta ardesiaca
- Purple heronArdea purpurea
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Squacco HeronArdeola ralloides
- Western Reef HeronEgretta gularis
- Striated HeronButorides striata
- Egretta intermediaEgretta intermedia
- Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
- Black-headed HeronArdea melanocephala
- Goliath HeronArdea goliath
- Pink-backed PelicanPelecanus rufescens
- Dimorphic EgretEgretta dimorpha
- Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Openbill StorkAnastomus lamelligerus
Songbirds27 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common BulbulPycnonotus barbatus
- Pied CrowCorvus albus
- Western Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava
- Village WeaverPloceus cucullatus
- PiapiacPtilostomus afer
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Winding CisticolaCisticola marginatus
- Bronze MannikinLonchura cucullata
- Ethiopian SwallowHirundo aethiopica
- Northern Grey-headed SparrowPasser griseus
- Rufous-winged CisticolaCisticola galactotes
- Black-headed WeaverPloceus melanocephalus
- Variable SunbirdCinnyris venustus
- Motacilla aguimpMotacilla aguimp
- Orange-cheeked WaxbillEstrilda melpoda
- Slender-billed WeaverPloceus pelzelni
- Yellow-crowned BishopEuplectes afer
- Red-chested SwallowHirundo lucida
- Yellow-billed ShrikeCorvinella corvina
- Lanius humeralisLanius humeralis
- Pin-tailed WhydahVidua macroura
- Splendid StarlingLamprotornis splendidus
- Tawny-flanked PriniaPrinia subflava
- Brown BabblerTurdoides plebejus
- Orange BishopEuplectes franciscanus
- Copper SunbirdCinnyris cupreus
- Collared SunbirdHedydipna collaris
Other birds20 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Pied KingfisherCeryle rudis
- Laughing DoveSpilopelia senegalensis
- Malachite KingfisherCorythornis cristatus
- Woodland KingfisherHalcyon senegalensis
- White-throated Bee-eaterMerops albicollis
- African Palm SwiftCypsiurus parvus
- Grey-headed KingfisherHalcyon leucocephala
- Little SwiftApus affinis
- Senegal CoucalCentropus senegalensis
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- Speckled PigeonColumba guinea
- Northern Carmine Bee-eaterMerops nubicus
- Red-eyed DoveStreptopelia semitorquata
- Western SwamphenPorphyrio porphyrio
- Black CrakeAmaurornis flavirostra
- African Pygmy KingfisherIspidina picta
- Diederik CuckooChrysococcyx caprius
- Western Grey Plantain-eaterCrinifer piscator
- Rose-ringed ParakeetPsittacula krameri
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in January.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan30°/23°20 mm
- Feb30°/25°32 mm
- Mar30°/26°78 mm
- Apr29°/26°119 mm
- May29°/25°174 mm
- Jun28°/24°216 mm
- Jul27°/23°165 mm
- Aug27°/23°93 mm
- Sep27°/23°198 mm
- Oct28°/24°172 mm
- Nov29°/25°55 mm
- Dec30°/24°20 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Lake Nokoué.
Lake in Benin
Lake Nokoué is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Benin.
91 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 975 open records.
The most recorded are the Little Egret, the Long-tailed Cormorant and the Pied Kingfisher.
10 species come for the summer, 19 for the winter and 3 only pass through.
The most species are recorded in January.
Get there and watch
- La Résidence de l'Étoileplace to stay · 6.3 km · 201 within 10 km
- Ganviénearest town · 5.0 km in a straight line
- Cotonou Cadjehoun International Airport (COO)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 10 km in a straight lineCar hire at LFW airport (Lomé)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 201places to stay within 10 kmLa Résidence de l'Étoile, Hôtel Peace and Love, Hôtel chez Clarisse and 198 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- viewpoints within 5 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- campsites within 10 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Lake Nokoué.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Lake Nokoué
Benin
- 46Birdyas Score
- 91Species
- 32Migrants
- 0Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q268631) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 975 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Lakeyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit