Cape Verde Ramsar wetland
Ribeira do Rabil Important Bird Area
71 bird species recorded; the most in March.
Letzte*Spieler · CC BY-SA 3.0
This month here
41 species in January.43 species in February.57 species in March.47 species in April.36 species in May.31 species in June.19 species in July.37 species in August.33 species in September.26 species in October.43 species in November.36 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.
NT
VU
NTVU
NTVU
NT
NT
NT
NTNT
NT
NT
NTNT
NTNT- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
71 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).
- 71Speciesrecorded more than once
- 28Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 3ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 2,886Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 7Raptors
- 24Waders
- 14Gulls & seabirds
- 1Ducks & geese
- 7Herons, ibises & grebes
- 11Songbirds
- 7Other 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 71 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- Egyptian vultureNeophron percnopterus
- Western Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Common BuzzardButeo buteo
- Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Waders24 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Kentish PloverCharadrius alexandrinus
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- SanderlingCalidris alba
- Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
- Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
- Cream-coloured CourserCursorius cursor
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
- Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
- Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaVU
- RuffCalidris pugnax
- Little StintCalidris minuta
- Bar-tailed godwitLimosa lapponicaNT
- RedshankTringa totanus
- Black-tailed GodwitLimosa limosaNT
- Green SandpiperTringa ochropus
- DunlinCalidris alpinaNT
- American golden ploverPluvialis dominica
- Spotted RedshankTringa erythropus
- Common SnipeGallinago gallinago
- Collared PratincoleGlareola pratincola
- Lesser yellowlegsTringa flavipesVU
Gulls & seabirds14 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Brown BoobySula leucogaster
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
- Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
- Phaethon aethereusPhaethon aethereus
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- Black-headed GullChroicocephalus ridibundus
- Little TernSternula albifrons
- Magnificent FrigatebirdFregata magnificens
- Cape Verde ShearwaterCalonectris edwardsiiNT
- Cape Verde Storm PetrelOceanodroma jabejabe
- Yellow-legged GullLarus michahellis
- Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
- White-faced storm petrelPelagodroma marina
- Great shearwaterPuffinus gravis
Ducks & geese1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Eurasian TealAnas crecca
Herons, ibises & grebes7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Eurasian SpoonbillPlatalea leucorodia
- Western Reef HeronEgretta gularis
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Purple heronArdea purpurea
Songbirds11 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Iago SparrowPasser iagoensis
- Brown-necked RavenCorvus ruficollis
- Spanish sparrowPasser hispaniolensis
- Spectacled WarblerSylvia conspicillata
- Black-crowned Sparrow-LarkEremopterix nigriceps
- Bar-tailed Desert LarkAmmomanes cinctura
- Hoopoe LarkAlaemon alaudipes
- BlackcapSylvia atricapilla
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Common House MartinDelichon urbicum
Other birds7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Eurasian Collared DoveStreptopelia decaocto
- Rock DoveColumba livia
- Helmeted GuineafowlNumida meleagris
- Alexander's SwiftApus alexandri
- Common QuailCoturnix coturnix
- Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
- European SwiftApus apus
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.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan23°/22°21 mm
- Feb22°/21°21 mm
- Mar22°/21°8 mm
- Apr23°/21°4 mm
- May23°/22°4 mm
- Jun24°/22°3 mm
- Jul25°/24°8 mm
- Aug27°/26°38 mm
- Sep27°/26°58 mm
- Oct27°/26°33 mm
- Nov26°/25°31 mm
- Dec24°/23°27 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Ribeira do Rabil Important Bird Area.
Wetland site in the Cape Verde archipelago, lying 600 km off the coast of north-west Africa in the Atlantic Ocean
Ribeira do Rabil Important Bird Area is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Cape Verde.
71 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 2,886 open records.
The most recorded are the Iago Sparrow, the Brown-necked Raven and the Common Kestrel.
10 species come for the summer, 16 for the winter and 2 only pass through.
3 are threatened worldwide, including Grey Plover, Curlew Sandpiper and Lesser yellowlegs.
The most species are recorded in March.
Get there and watch
- Hotel Riu Karamboaplace to stay · 0.9 km · 26 within 10 km
- Rabilnearest town · 1.5 km in a straight line
- Aristides Pereira International Airport (BVC)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 1 km in a straight line
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
- 3viewpoints within 5 kmDeserto de Viana
- 8car parks within 3 km
- 11restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 26places to stay within 10 kmHotel Riu Karamboa, Bungalow-Hotel Parque das Dunas Village, Villa Christina and 23 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 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 Ribeira do Rabil Important Bird Area.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas6 mountains within 25 kmVigia146 m · 8.9 kmRocha Estância357 m · 10 kmMonte Santo António379 m · 11 kmMonte Caçador and Pico Forcado Protected Countryside364 m · 14 kmMonte Estância387 m · 18 kmMorre Negro156 m · 24 km
Coastya18 beaches within 10 kmPraia de Boca da Salina · 1.1 km↗Praia de Carlota · 2.5 kmPraia da Chave · 3.8 km↗Praia de João Questão · 4.3 kmParia de Chaves · 4.5 kmPraia de Cabral · 5.9 kmPraia de Fátima · 7.3 kmPraia de Atalanta · 8.4 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Other places nearby.
Ribeira do Rabil Important Bird Area
Cape Verde
- 49Birdyas Score
- 71Species
- 28Migrants
- 3Threatened
Ilhéu de Curral Velho and adjacent coast Important Bird Area
Cape Verde · 22 km
- 51Birdyas Score
- 74Species
- 27Migrants
- 4Threatened
Pedra Badejo lagoons Important Bird Area
Cape Verde · 130 km
- 50Birdyas Score
- 65Species
- 24Migrants
- 3Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q15272471) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 2,886 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 | Peakyas, Islandyas, Coastya, Darkskyas |
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
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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