The Gambia

First of all we should clarify that it is “The Gambia” not Gambia.  I visited the coastal areas of the country during November 2018, traveling inland on occasion - but not far.  I stayed in Kotu, on the coast.  Kotu is the location of a rather famous bridge, not much to look at, just a small bridge.  But it spans a creek which runs to the ocean a few hundred yards away - it spans an estuary which floods and drains with the tides.  It is possible to see (the story goes) more than a hundred bird species in a day from this bridge.  I did not see that many, but it was great.

I used two guides when I was in The Gambia, Baba Galleh Bah (baba623@hotmail.com) and Ansumana Drammeh (ansudrammeh10@yahoo.com).

In addition to the bird videos described below the Bird Trips portfolios also include a general travel video of The Gambia, video of two primate species - Temminck’s Western Red Colobus and the Green Monkey, video of West African Crocodile, two crab species - Goniopsis pelii and Uca tangeri (the West African Fiddle Crab), a fish species - Periophthalmus barbarus (the Atlantic Mudskipper), a species of butterfly - Belenois aurota (the African Caper White), and a species of Soldier Ant in the genus Dorylus.  Framegrabs of the fauna listed above are found in the Gambia - Fauna photo gallery.  Of course, all of this shrinks in comparison with the video of 129 individual bird species in The Birds of Gambia portfolio.

The photo gallery for The Gambia is composed mostly of framegrabs from the following videos.

The following videos are compilations of individual bird species videos.  Links to video of individual bird species are found below the 9 compilation volumes.  Links to other fauna are found below the listing of bird videos.

Volume 1 includes Kingfishers (Pied, Malachite, Giant, Blue-breasted, and Woodland), Bee-eaters (Little, Blue-cheeked, and Swallow-tailed), and Rollers (Abyssinan, Blue-bellied, and Broad-billed). 


Volume 2 includes the following species; Egrets (Western Reef, Little, Great, Cattle), Herons (Black-headed, Purple, Squacco, Grey, and Black*), Greater Flamingo, and Hamerkop.  (*The Black Heron is actually Egretta.)  


Volume 3 includes; Pied Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Common Greenshank, Sacred Ibis, African Jacana, African Wattled Lapwing, Spur-winged Lapwing, Common Moorhen, Common Ringed Plover, White-fronted Plover, Common Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Purple Swamphen, Senegal Thick-Knee, and Whimbrel.


Volume 4 includes the Hornbills (African Grey, African Pied, Western Red-billed); Owls (Verreaux's Eagle-Owl, Northern White-faced Owl, and Pearl-spotted Owlet); Woodpeckers (Grey, Buff-spotted); Pelicans (Pink-backed and Great White); African Darter; and Long-tailed Cormorant.


Volume 5 includes the Estrildid Finches (Red-billed Firefinch, Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu, Lavender Waxbill, and Orange-cheeked Waxbill); Weavers (Black-necked Weaver, Village Weaver, Little Weaver, and Heuglin's Masked Weaver); Sunbirds (Beautiful Sunbird, Splendid Sunbird, Copper Sunbird, Brown Sunbird, Green-headed Sunbird); Swallows (Red-winged and Wire-tailed); and the Northern Red Bishop.


Volume 6 includes Doves and Pigeons (Red-eyed Dove, African Mourning Dove, Black-billed Wood Dove, Blue-spotted Wood Dove, Laughing Dove, Vinaceous Dove, Namaqua Dove, and Speckled Pigeon), Gulls (Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Slender-billed Gull, and Grey-headed Gull), and Terns (Lesser-crested Tern, Little Tern, and Caspian Tern).


Volume 7 includes video of Raptors and Vultures and other birds of prey (Lizard Buzzard, Dark Chanting Goshawk, African Harrier Hawk, Yellow-billed Kite, Osprey, Shikra, Woodchat Shrike, Yellow-billed Shrike, Hooded Vulture, and Palm-nut Vulture), Nightjars (Long-tailed Nightjar and Standard-winged Nightjar), and Waterfowl (White-faced Whistling Duck and Spur-winged Goose).  


Volume 8 contains video of the following species; Blackcap Babbler, Brown Babbler, Bearded Barbet, Common Bulbul, White-crowned Robin Chat, Winding Cisticola, Senegal Coucal, Northern Crombec, Pied Crow, Fork-tailed Drongo, Northern Black Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise Flycatcher, Yellow-crowned Gonolek, Little Greenbul, Lesser Honeyguide, Spotted Honeyguide, Crested Lark, Bronze Mannikin, African Golden Oriole, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Senegal Parrot, Western Grey Plantain-eater, and Tawny-flanked Prinia.


Volume 9 contains video of the following bird species; Northern Puffbird, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Bronze-tailed Glossy Starling, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, African Thrush, Green Turaco, Violet Turaco, Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, and Oriole Warbler.  


LINKS TO VIDEO OF INDIVIDUAL BIRD SPECIES

Avocet, Pied
Babbler, Blackcap
Babbler, Brown
Barbet, Bearded
Bee-eater, Blue-cheeked
Bee-eater, Little
Bee-eater, Swallow-tailed
Bishop, Northern Red
Bulbul, Common
Buzzard, Lizard
Chat, White-crowned Robin
Cisticola, Winding
Cordon-bleu, Red-cheeked
Cormorant, Long-tailed
Coucal, Senegal
Crombec, Northern
Crow, Pied
Darter, African
Dove, African Mourning
Dove, Black-billed Wood
Dove, Blue-spotted Wood
Dove, Laughing
Dove, Namaqua
Dove, Red-eyed
Dove, Vinaceous
Drongo, Fork-tailed
Eagle-Owl, Verreaux's
Egret, Cattle
Egret, Great
Egret, Little
Egret, Western Reef
Firefinch, Red-billed
Flamingo, Greater
Flycatcher, Northern Black
Flycatcher, Red-bellied Paradise
Godwit, Bar-tailed
Gonolek, Yellow-crowned
Goose, Spur-winged
Goshawk, Dark Chanting
Greenbul, Little
Greenshank, Common
Gull, Black-headed
Gull, Grey-headed
Gull, Lesser Black-backed
Gull, Slender-billed
Hamerkop
Hawk, African Harrier
Heron, Black
Heron, Black-headed
Heron, Grey
Heron, Purple
Heron, Squacco
Honeyguide, Lesser
Honeyguide, Spotted
Hornbill, (Western) Red-billed
Hornbill, African Grey
Hornbill, African Pied
Ibis, Sacred
Jacana, African
Kingfisher, Blue-breasted
Kingfisher, Giant
Kingfisher, Malachite
Kingfisher, Pied
Kingfisher, Woodland
Kite, Yellow-billed
Lapwing, African Wattled
Lapwing, Spur-winged
Lark, Crested
Mannikin, Bronze
Moorhen, Common
Nightjar, Long-tailed
Nightjar, Standard-winged
Oriole, African Golden
Osprey
Owl, Northern White-faced
Owlet, Pearl-spotted
Parakeet, Rose-ringed
Parrot, Senegal
Pelican, Great White
Pelican, Pink-backed
Pigeon, Speckled
Plantain-eater, Western Grey
Plover, Common Ringed
Plover, White-fronted
Prinia, Tawny-flanked
Puffback, Northern
Redshank, Common
Roller, Abyssinan
Roller, Blue-bellied
Roller, Broad-billed
Sandpiper, Common
Shikra
Shrike, Woodchat
Shrike, Yellow-billed
Sparrow, Northern Grey-headed
Starling, Bronze-tailed Glossy
Starling, Greater Blue-eared
Starling, Long-tailed Glossy
Stilt, Black-winged
Sunbird, Beautiful
Sunbird, Brown
Sunbird, Copper
Sunbird, Green-headed
Sunbird, Splendid
Swallow, Pied-winged
Swallow, Wire-tailed
Swamphen, Purple
Tern, Caspian
Tern, Lesser Crested
Tern, Little
Thick-knee, Senegal
Thrush, African
Turaco, Green
Turaco, Violet
Vulture, Hooded
Vulture, Palm-nut
Wagtail, White
Wagtail, Yellow
Warbler, Oriole
Waxbill, Lavender
Waxbill, Orange-cheeked
Weaver, Black-necked
Weaver, Heuglin’s Masked
Weaver, Little
Weaver, Village
Whimbrel
Whistling Duck, White-faced
Woodpecker, Buff-spotted
Woodpecker, Grey




© Robert Barnes 2023-2024