Nik Borrow - Birds of Western Africa

Figure 1 . Western Africa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This field guide is principally based on our Birds of Western Africa (2001), updated with the results of subsequent research. It draws extensively upon the work of many ornithologists past and present, as well as the observations of numerous birders. Although we have acknowledged the contribution of many of them before, it is a genuine pleasure to thank again all those who have directly or indirectly contributed to this work.

First of all, we are particularly grateful to Robert Dowsett and Franoise Dowsett-Lemaire for generously sharing their vast and intimate knowledge of African birds with us and for providing us with invaluable help, advice and stimulating discussions over many years. Bob Dowsett was also hugely instrumental in improving the accuracy of the distribution maps, for which additional corrections were suggested by Joost Brouwer, Marc Languy, Bruno Portier, Hugo Rainey and Tim Wacher.

Since the publication of Birds of Western Africa, we have benefited from the constructive comments of a large number of individuals including Mark Andrews, George Angehr, Thierry Bara, Peter Bijlmakers, Christian Boix, Sering Bojang, Chris Bowden, Joost Brouwer, Ralph Buij, Iain Campbell, Claude Chappuis, Patrice Christy, William S. Clark, Nigel Cleere, Callan Cohen, Jacob C. Cooper, Mary Crickmore, Richard Cruse, Tony Disley, Tim Dodman, Andrew Dunn, Geoffrey Field, David Fisher, Lincoln Fishpool, Dick Forsman, Cornelis Hazevoet, the late Paul Herroelen, Andrew Hester, the late Ian Hinze, Guy Kirwan, Olivier Lachenaud, Marc Languy, James Lidster, Michel Louette, Martim Melo, Pierfrancesco Micheloni, Michael Mills, David Monticelli, Robert Payne, Bruno Portier, Bill and Rowena Quantrill, Adam Riley, Stephen Rumsey, Jean-Marc Thiollay, Alan Tye, Mark Van Beirs and Jared Wolfe.

Mark Adams and Robert Prs-Jones, at the Natural History Museum, Tring, UK, and Michel Louette, at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium, are thanked for continuing to facilitate access to specimens.

BirdLife International kindly permitted the use of some of its maps.

We thank Nigel Redman, the Commissioning Editor, for having initiated the project and for his assistance in producing this book.

Once again, Julie Dando has expertly executed the digital manipulation of images, production of maps, and design and layout of the plates and text.

NB would like to thank the many Birdquest clients, friends and companions in the field, including, in particular, Didi Abdel-Haviz, Emmanuel Appiah-adjei, William Apraku, Taku Awa, Bamenda Highlands Forest Project, Lawrence Bangura, Innocent Ndong Bass, Mark Beaman, Sylvain Zo Beugre, David Daramani, Joachim Dibakou, Dabala Dji, Enongene Louis Epie, Kingsley Epie, Brian Finch, George Fon Fru, Germain Gagn, Kenneth Gbengba, Ghana Wildlife Society, Alan Greensmith, Bernard Guvorts, Solomon Jallow, Ekpe Kennedy, Korup National Park Project, Pedro Leito, Norberto de Lima Vidal, Mount Kupe Forest Project, Gilles Monnoyeur, Pete Morris, Nwese Joseph Mulango, Idrissa Ndiaye, Francis Ntakor, Isaac Ntakor, James Ntakor, Robert Ntakor, Luc Guirobo Nomo, Antoine Ombrou, Aoudou Oumarou, Gerhard Radl, Momoh B. Sesay, Sio, Dembo Sonko, Wandifa Touray and Mark Williams.

RD thanks his field companions in various African countries, especially Dennis Ndeh Anye, Thierry Bara, Jean-Michel Borie, Jane & Peter Chandley, Martine Cmok, Mohamed Moussa Balla Cond, Patrick Dauda, Ian Davidson, Klaas-Douwe (KD) Dijkstra, Gus Ezealor, Jerry Garteh, Namory Keta, Marc Languy, Gondo Manh, Shiiwua Manu, Moses Massah, Flomo Molubah, Ara Monadjem, Michel Nicole, Kevin Yana Njabo, Arnold Okoni-Williams, Georges Oueda, Hugo Rainey, Alain Rousseau, Alhaji Siaka, Kadiatou Soumah, Michel Tia, Jan Van de Voorde, and the members of field teams in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. RD also thanks Saliou Diallo (Guine cologie) for his friendship and assistance in organising field work in Guinea, Lincoln Fishpool (BirdLife International) for his companionship in the field and help in various ways, Jennifer McCullough and Leeanne Alonso (Conservation International) for their invitations to participate in Rapid Assessment Program expeditions, and Francis Lauginie (Afrique Nature), Guy Rondeau (Okapi) and Annika Hillers for inviting him to participate in various other surveys. Francis Lauginie also deserves special thanks for his marvellous hospitality and much practical assistance over the years.

Finally, as always, RD expresses his deepest gratitude to Rita Swinnen for her love, tireless patience, and enthusiastic, good-natured and unstinting support of a project that has consumed far more time and energy than was ever anticipated.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book illustrates and briefly describes all species definitely recorded from western Africa, as well as some that have been claimed but whose occurrence requires proof. The design and layout have been executed with field identification in mind.

AREA COVERED

Western Africa, as defined here and subsequently referred to as the region, comprises the 23 countries, south of the Sahara, from Mauritania in the north-west to Chad and the Central African Republic in the east, and Congo-Brazzaville in the south-east, including the Cape Verde and Gulf of Guinea islands. The term region is used in a general sense and does not indicate an avifaunal or biogeographical region or subregion. For ease of reference, all range states comprising western Africa are covered in their entirety; thus parts of northern Mauritania, Niger and Chad that are often considered to be within the Western Palearctic are included. The four principal Gulf of Guinea islands comprise Bioko (formerly Fernando Po), Prncipe, So Tom and Annobn (formerly Pagal). Bioko and Annobn form part of Equatorial Guinea.