Benin Ramsar wetland
Ouémé River
94 bird species recorded; the most in March and in November.
MVN · CC BY 2.0
This month here
32 species in January.29 species in February.52 species in March.47 species in April.13 species in May.7 species in June.39 species in July.26 species in August.38 species in September.30 species in October.53 species in November.16 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
94 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).
- 94Speciesrecorded more than once
- 39Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 807Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 9Raptors
- 3Owls
- 11Waders
- 5Gulls & seabirds
- 3Ducks & geese
- 12Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Storks & cranes
- 26Songbirds
- 24Other 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 94 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors9 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- Black-winged KiteElanus caeruleus
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Long-crested EagleLophaetus occipitalis
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
- Pallid HarrierCircus macrourusNT
- LannerFalco biarmicus
- Lesser kestrelFalco naumanni
Owls3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Western Barn OwlTyto alba
- Pearl-spotted OwletGlaucidium perlatum
- Giant Eagle OwlBubo lacteus
Waders11 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Spur-winged LapwingVanellus spinosus
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- African JacanaActophilornis africanus
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
- Water DikkopBurhinus vermiculatus
- Senegal Thick-kneeBurhinus senegalensis
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
Gulls & seabirds5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- West African Crested TernThalasseus albididorsalis
- African SkimmerRynchops flavirostris
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Black TernChlidonias niger
Ducks & geese3 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Egyptian GooseAlopochen aegyptiaca
- White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduata
- Spur-winged GoosePlectropterus gambensis
Herons, ibises & grebes12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Long-tailed CormorantMicrocarbo africanus
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Purple heronArdea purpurea
- Striated HeronButorides striata
- Black HeronEgretta ardesiaca
- Western Reef HeronEgretta gularis
- HadadaBostrychia hagedash
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Black-crowned Night-HeronNycticorax nycticorax
- Squacco HeronArdeola ralloides
- Goliath HeronArdea goliath
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Openbill StorkAnastomus lamelligerus
Songbirds26 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Pied CrowCorvus albus
- Common BulbulPycnonotus barbatus
- PiapiacPtilostomus afer
- Yellow-billed ShrikeCorvinella corvina
- Turdus peliosTurdus pelios
- Variable SunbirdCinnyris venustus
- Western Yellow WagtailMotacilla flava
- Village WeaverPloceus cucullatus
- Ethiopian SwallowHirundo aethiopica
- Brown BabblerTurdoides plebejus
- Bronze MannikinLonchura cucullata
- Collared SunbirdHedydipna collaris
- Splendid StarlingLamprotornis splendidus
- Spotted FlycatcherMuscicapa striata
- Northern Grey-headed SparrowPasser griseus
- Winding CisticolaCisticola marginatus
- Purple Glossy-starlingLamprotornis purpureus
- Zitting CisticolaCisticola juncidis
- Motacilla aguimpMotacilla aguimp
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Pin-tailed WhydahVidua macroura
- Common House MartinDelichon urbicum
- Orange WeaverPloceus aurantius
- Yellow-crowned BishopEuplectes afer
- Splendid SunbirdCinnyris coccinigastrus
- Copper SunbirdCinnyris cupreus
Other birds24 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Laughing DoveSpilopelia senegalensis
- Speckled PigeonColumba guinea
- Western Grey Plantain-eaterCrinifer piscator
- Senegal CoucalCentropus senegalensis
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Red-eyed DoveStreptopelia semitorquata
- Little SwiftApus affinis
- African Palm SwiftCypsiurus parvus
- Pied KingfisherCeryle rudis
- Green WoodhoopoePhoeniculus purpureus
- Woodland KingfisherHalcyon senegalensis
- Rose-ringed ParakeetPsittacula krameri
- Broad-billed RollerEurystomus glaucurus
- Black CrakeAmaurornis flavirostra
- Western SwamphenPorphyrio porphyrio
- Senegal ParrotPoicephalus senegalus
- Black ScimitarbillRhinopomastus aterrimus
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- Northern Carmine Bee-eaterMerops nubicus
- Ahanta SpurfowlPternistis ahantensis
- African Pygmy KingfisherIspidina picta
- Red-headed LovebirdAgapornis pullarius
- Long-tailed NightjarCaprimulgus climacurus
- Allen's GallinulePorphyrio alleni
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 March and in November.
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
Ouémé River.
River in Benin
Ouémé River is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Benin.
94 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 807 open records.
The most recorded are the Laughing Dove, the Pied Crow and the Common Bulbul.
8 species come for the summer, 28 for the winter and 3 only pass through.
1 are threatened worldwide, including Grey Plover.
The most species are recorded in March and in November.
Get there and watch
- Site de l'ONG TAMAEEcampsite · 8.4 km · 1 within 10 km
- Hôtel du lacplace to stay · 0.7 km · 151 within 10 km
- Cotonounearest town · 3.2 km in a straight line
- Cotonou Cadjehoun International Airport (COO)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 7 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
- 16car parks within 3 km
- 85restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 1campsites within 10 kmSite de l'ONG TAMAEE
- 151places to stay within 10 kmHôtel du lac, Myosotis, Hôtel Vickinfel and 148 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
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Ouémé River.
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.
Other places nearby.
Ouémé River
Benin
- 49Birdyas Score
- 94Species
- 39Migrants
- 1Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q595037) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 807 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?
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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
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birdwatching
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