Sierra Leone Ramsar wetland
Sierra Leone River
86 bird species recorded; the most in December.
Tholoma Sumah · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
24 species in January.35 species in February.19 species in March.36 species in April.6 species in May.23 species in June.21 species in July.17 species in August.28 species in September.49 species in October.50 species in November.56 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.
CR
CR
NT
CR
CR
CR
CR
CR
CRCRCRNTCR- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
86 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).
- 86Speciesrecorded more than once
- 41Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 613Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 7Raptors
- 4Waders
- 4Gulls & seabirds
- 6Herons, ibises & grebes
- 40Songbirds
- 25Other 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 86 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
- Hooded VultureNecrosyrtes monachusCR
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Red-necked BuzzardButeo auguralis
- Lizard BuzzardKaupifalco monogrammicus
- Palm-nut VultureGypohierax angolensis
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- African Harrier-hawkPolyboroides typus
Waders4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpresNT
- Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
- Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
- Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
Gulls & seabirds4 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
- West African Crested TernThalasseus albididorsalis
- Common TernSterna hirundo
- Caspian TernHydroprogne caspia
Herons, ibises & grebes6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
- Western Reef HeronEgretta gularis
- Striated HeronButorides striata
- Little EgretEgretta garzetta
- Long-tailed CormorantMicrocarbo africanus
- Great White EgretArdea alba
Songbirds40 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Common BulbulPycnonotus barbatus
- Pied CrowCorvus albus
- Village WeaverPloceus cucullatus
- Bronze MannikinLonchura cucullata
- Yellow-fronted CanaryCrithagra mozambica
- Chestnut-and-black WeaverPloceus castaneofuscus
- Fanti SawwingPsalidoprocne obscura
- Variable SunbirdCinnyris venustus
- Turdus peliosTurdus pelios
- Northern Grey-headed SparrowPasser griseus
- Red-billed FirefinchLagonosticta senegala
- Black-and-white MuniaLonchura bicolor
- Dybowski's TwinspotEuschistospiza dybowskii
- Orange-breasted BushshrikeChlorophoneus sulfureopectus
- Olive-bellied SunbirdCinnyris chloropygius
- Green-headed SunbirdCyanomitra verticalis
- Turati's BoubouLaniarius turatii
- Green-backed CamaropteraCamaroptera brachyura
- Little GreenbulEurillas virens
- Olive-naped WeaverPloceus brachypterus
- Red-chested SwallowHirundo lucida
- Splendid SunbirdCinnyris coccinigastrus
- Olive SunbirdCyanomitra olivacea
- Northern PuffbackDryoscopus gambensis
- Simple GreenbulChlorocichla simplex
- Northern Yellow White-eyeZosterops senegalensis
- Hylia prasinaHylia prasina
- Copper SunbirdCinnyris cupreus
- Lanius humeralisLanius humeralis
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
- Red-tailed LeaflovePhyllastrephus scandens
- Square-tailed SawwingPsalidoprocne nitens
- Black-and-white Shrike-flycatcherBias musicus
- Tawny-flanked PriniaPrinia subflava
- Crimson SeedcrackerPyrenestes sanguineus
- Bar-breasted FirefinchLagonosticta rufopicta
- Fork-tailed DrongoDicrurus adsimilis
- Vieillot's Black WeaverPloceus nigerrimus
- Lesser Striped SwallowCecropis abyssinica
- Red-breasted SwallowCecropis semirufa
Other birds25 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Laughing DoveSpilopelia senegalensis
- Little SwiftApus affinis
- Red-eyed DoveStreptopelia semitorquata
- White-throated Bee-eaterMerops albicollis
- Blue-spotted Wood-doveTurtur afer
- Senegal CoucalCentropus senegalensis
- African Pied HornbillLophoceros fasciatus
- Western Grey Plantain-eaterCrinifer piscator
- African Palm SwiftCypsiurus parvus
- Diederik CuckooChrysococcyx caprius
- Tambourine DoveTurtur tympanistria
- Red-rumped TinkerbirdPogoniulus atroflavus
- Yellow-rumped TinkerbirdPogoniulus bilineatus
- Grey-headed KingfisherHalcyon leucocephala
- Woodland KingfisherHalcyon senegalensis
- Blue-cheeked Bee-eaterMerops persicus
- Klaas's CuckooChrysococcyx klaas
- Double-spurred SpurfowlPternistis bicalcaratus
- Pied KingfisherCeryle rudis
- Double-toothed BarbetLybius bidentatus
- Malachite KingfisherCorythornis cristatus
- Green TuracoTauraco persa
- Little Bee-eaterMerops pusillus
- Speckled TinkerbirdPogoniulus scolopaceus
- Emerald CuckooChrysococcyx cupreus
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 December.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan29°/22°1 mm
- Feb30°/23°2 mm
- Mar31°/24°2 mm
- Apr31°/25°25 mm
- May30°/25°136 mm
- Jun28°/24°399 mm
- Jul27°/24°644 mm
- Aug27°/24°699 mm
- Sep27°/24°400 mm
- Oct28°/24°187 mm
- Nov29°/24°71 mm
- Dec29°/23°4 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Sierra Leone River.
River in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone River is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Sierra Leone.
86 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 613 open records.
The most recorded are the Hooded Vulture, the Black Kite and the Common Bulbul.
12 species come for the summer, 28 for the winter and 1 only pass through.
1 are threatened worldwide, including Hooded Vulture.
The most species are recorded in December.
Get there and watch
- Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuarycampsite · 9.6 km · 1 within 10 km
- My Mum Homeplace to stay · 4.3 km · 60 within 10 km
- Freetownnearest town · 5.8 km in a straight line
- Lungi International Airport (FNA)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 13 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 km75A Leicester Road
- 4car parks within 3 km
- 1campsites within 10 kmTacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
- 60places to stay within 10 kmMy Mum Home, Formal Leona hotel, The Place Guest House and 57 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- observation towers within 6 km
- marked trails within 4 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 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 Sierra Leone River.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas19 mountains within 25 kmLeicester Peak105 m · 7.3 kmSpike Hill · 9.6 kmSugar Loaf · 11 kmHamilton · 14 kmMoku Hill · 14 kmMillars Point · 15 kmMount Horton · 19 kmJagba Hill · 24 km
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 kmBathurst Falls · 9.5 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q3445630) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 613 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, Coastya, Cascadyas |
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