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Ghana Ghana Ramsar wetland

Songor Lagoon

93 bird species recorded; the most in October.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec64at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Els holmes · CC BY-SA 4.0

This month here

28 species in January.

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.

Black-winged Stilt
Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopusWinter visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Common Sandpiper
Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucosWinter visitorChristoph Müller · CC BY-SA 4.0
Western Cattle Egret
Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibisWinter visitoriNaturalist.org (Patrick Le Mao) · CC0
Common Ringed Plover
Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticulaWinter visitorAndreas Trepte · CC BY-SA 2.5
Little Egret
Little EgretEgretta garzettaWinter visitorBirdman1 · CC BY 2.5
Curlew SandpiperVU
Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaWinter visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Black Heron
Black HeronEgretta ardesiacaWinter visitorDerek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0
African Jacana
African JacanaActophilornis africanusWinter visitorChris Eason · CC BY 2.0
Wood Sandpiper
Wood SandpiperTringa glareolaWinter visitorKoshy Koshy from Faridabad, Haryana, India · CC BY 2.0
Redshank
RedshankTringa totanusWinter visitorZeynel Cebeci · CC BY-SA 4.0
Grey Heron
Grey HeronArdea cinereaWinter visitorVassilios Vescoukis · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sandwich Tern
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisWinter visitorMPF · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sanderling
SanderlingCalidris albaWinter visitorKen Billington · CC BY-SA 3.0
Little Stint
Little StintCalidris minutaWinter visitorKen Billington · CC BY-SA 3.0
Collared Pratincole
Collared PratincoleGlareola pratincolaWinter visitorSteve Garvie ( rainbirder ) · CC BY 2.0
Marsh Sandpiper
Marsh SandpiperTringa stagnatilisWinter visitorJJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Squacco HeronArdeola ralloidesWinter visitor
Egretta intermediaEgretta intermediaWinter visitor
Pied Kingfisher
Pied KingfisherCeryle rudisResidentCharles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0
Western Reef Heron
Western Reef HeronEgretta gularisResidentKaippally · CC BY 2.5
Spur-winged Lapwing
Spur-winged LapwingVanellus spinosusResidentBernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0
Long-tailed Cormorant
Long-tailed CormorantMicrocarbo africanusResidentKnowledge and philosophy · CC BY-SA 4.0
White-faced Whistling-duck
White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduataResidentVincent Vos Bolivia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Senegal Thick-knee
Senegal Thick-kneeBurhinus senegalensisResidentCharles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

93 species, counted.

50out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 93Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 33Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 2ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 626Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 5Raptors
  • 1Owls
  • 20Waders
  • 7Gulls & seabirds
  • 1Ducks & geese
  • 12Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 26Songbirds
  • 21Other 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 93 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Black KiteMilvus migrans
  • Black-winged KiteElanus caeruleus
  • Grey KestrelFalco ardosiaceus
  • Western Marsh HarrierCircus aeruginosus
  • Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
Owls1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Western Barn OwlTyto alba
Waders20 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Black-winged StiltHimantopus himantopus
  • Spur-winged LapwingVanellus spinosus
  • Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucos
  • Common Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticula
  • Curlew SandpiperCalidris ferrugineaVU
  • African JacanaActophilornis africanus
  • Eurasian WhimbrelNumenius phaeopus
  • Senegal Thick-kneeBurhinus senegalensis
  • Wood SandpiperTringa glareola
  • RedshankTringa totanus
  • Common GreenshankTringa nebularia
  • SanderlingCalidris alba
  • Little StintCalidris minuta
  • Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaVU
  • Collared PratincoleGlareola pratincola
  • Marsh SandpiperTringa stagnatilis
  • African Wattled LapwingVanellus senegallus
  • Rock PratincoleGlareola nuchalis
  • Spotted RedshankTringa erythropus
  • RuffCalidris pugnax
Gulls & seabirds7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Little TernSternula albifrons
  • Common TernSterna hirundo
  • Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensis
  • Black TernChlidonias niger
  • Lesser Black-backed GullLarus fuscus
  • Arctic SkuaStercorarius parasiticus
  • West African Crested TernThalasseus albididorsalis
Ducks & geese1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • White-faced Whistling-duckDendrocygna viduata
Herons, ibises & grebes12 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Western Reef HeronEgretta gularis
  • Western Cattle EgretBubulcus ibis
  • Long-tailed CormorantMicrocarbo africanus
  • Little EgretEgretta garzetta
  • Black HeronEgretta ardesiaca
  • Squacco HeronArdeola ralloides
  • Great White EgretArdea alba
  • Grey HeronArdea cinerea
  • Striated HeronButorides striata
  • Egretta intermediaEgretta intermedia
  • Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
  • Black-headed HeronArdea melanocephala
Songbirds26 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Common BulbulPycnonotus barbatus
  • Pied CrowCorvus albus
  • Ethiopian SwallowHirundo aethiopica
  • Yellow-throated LongclawMacronyx croceus
  • Northern Grey-headed SparrowPasser griseus
  • Zitting CisticolaCisticola juncidis
  • Bronze MannikinLonchura cucullata
  • Village WeaverPloceus cucullatus
  • Pin-tailed WhydahVidua macroura
  • Winding CisticolaCisticola marginatus
  • PiapiacPtilostomus afer
  • Yellow-crowned GonolekLaniarius barbarus
  • Yellow-billed ShrikeCorvinella corvina
  • Mosque SwallowCecropis senegalensis
  • Pale-winged IndigobirdVidua wilsoni
  • Purple Glossy-starlingLamprotornis purpureus
  • Orange BishopEuplectes franciscanus
  • Copper SunbirdCinnyris cupreus
  • Collared SunbirdHedydipna collaris
  • Plain-backed PipitAnthus leucophrys
  • Spotted FlycatcherMuscicapa striata
  • Tawny-flanked PriniaPrinia subflava
  • Red-billed FirefinchLagonosticta senegala
  • Yellow-crowned BishopEuplectes afer
  • Motacilla aguimpMotacilla aguimp
  • Turdus peliosTurdus pelios
Other birds21 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Pied KingfisherCeryle rudis
  • Laughing DoveSpilopelia senegalensis
  • Senegal CoucalCentropus senegalensis
  • Vinaceous DoveStreptopelia vinacea
  • Little SwiftApus affinis
  • Western Grey Plantain-eaterCrinifer piscator
  • Double-spurred SpurfowlPternistis bicalcaratus
  • White-throated Bee-eaterMerops albicollis
  • African Palm SwiftCypsiurus parvus
  • Green WoodhoopoePhoeniculus purpureus
  • Malachite KingfisherCorythornis cristatus
  • Red-eyed DoveStreptopelia semitorquata
  • Diederik CuckooChrysococcyx caprius
  • Black-billed Wood DoveTurtur abyssinicus
  • African Grey HornbillLophoceros nasutus
  • Purple RollerCoracias naevius
  • Yellow-fronted TinkerbirdPogoniulus chrysoconus
  • Double-toothed BarbetLybius bidentatus
  • Senegal ParrotPoicephalus senegalus
  • Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus
  • Woodland KingfisherHalcyon senegalensis

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 October.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan2832°/24°16 mm
  2. Feb2332°/25°34 mm
  3. Mar3931°/26°87 mm
  4. Apr030°/25°116 mm
  5. May2929°/25°164 mm
  6. Jun3028°/24°174 mm
  7. Jul127°/23°113 mm
  8. Aug128°/22°60 mm
  9. Sep828°/23°131 mm
  10. Oct6429°/24°138 mm
  11. Nov3630°/24°40 mm
  12. Dec4132°/24°17 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Songor Lagoon.

Wetland site

Songor Lagoon is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Ghana.

93 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 626 open records.

The most recorded are the Pied Kingfisher, the Western Reef Heron and the Laughing Dove.

9 species come for the summer, 23 for the winter and 1 only pass through.

2 are threatened worldwide, including Curlew Sandpiper and Grey Plover.

The most species are recorded in October.

Salt gathering by an Old Lady at Songhor Lagoon
Els holmes · CC BY-SA 4.0

Get there and watch

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.

Songor Lagoon seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 2places to stay within 10 kmFirst Star Hotel, Gardens Club Hotel
  • 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 Songor Lagoon.

The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.

Lakeyas1 lakes within 15 km
Songaw Lagoon0.8 km² · 2.8 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.

Artificial Dyke on the Songhor Lagoon
Els holmes · CC BY-SA 4.0
Songhor lagoon and Biosphere Reserve
Demaiden Fleming · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other places nearby.

Songor Lagoon

Ghana

  • 50Birdyas Score
  • 93Species
  • 33Migrants
  • 2Threatened

Sakumono Lagoon

Ghana · 57 km

  • 76Birdyas Score
  • 252Species
  • 106Migrants
  • 4Threatened

See the guide

Densu River

Ghana · 94 km

  • 59Birdyas Score
  • 167Species
  • 43Migrants
  • 3Threatened

See the guide

Ouémé River

Benin · 228 km

  • 49Birdyas Score
  • 94Species
  • 39Migrants
  • 1Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q7561299) · CC0
Birds626 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesLakeyas

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.