Top 20 Most Common Bird in Liberia
Nestled in West Africa, Liberia boasts diverse ecosystems, from lush rainforests to coastal lagoons, providing ideal habitats for numerous bird species. This guide introduces the 20 most common birds, spotlighting unique attributes, behaviors, and adaptations. Discover the striking plumage of the African Darter, the musical skills of the Yellow-casqued Hornbill, or the unique fishing strategy of the Pied Kingfisher. This abundance of birdlife showcases Liberia's rich biodiversity.
Most Common Bird
1. Red-eyed Dove
The red-eyed dove is a largish, stocky pigeon, typically 30 cm (12 inches) in length. Its back, wings and tail are pale brown. When flying, it shows blackish flight feathers. The head and underparts are dark vinous-pink, shading to pale grey on the face. There is a black hind neck patch edged with white. The legs and a patch of bare skin around the eye are red. The call is a loud doo-doo-du-du. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults, and have scalloping on the body feathers. Red-eyed doves eat grass seeds, grains and other vegetation. They often forage on the ground.
2. African Palm Swift
This 16 cm long species is mainly pale brown in colour. It has long swept-back wings that resemble a crescent or a boomerang. The body is slender, and the tail is long and deeply forked, although it is usually held closed. The call is a loud, shrill scream. Sexes are similar, and young birds differ mainly in their shorter tails. Palm swifts have very short legs which they use only for clinging to vertical surfaces, since swifts never settle voluntarily on the ground.
3. Common Bulbul
The bill is fairly short and thin, with a slightly downcurving upper mandible. The bill, legs, and feet are black and the eye is dark brown with a dark eye-ring, which is not readily visible. It is about 18 cm in length, with a long tail. It has a dark brown head and upperparts. Sexes are similar in plumage.
4. Laughing Dove
The laughing Dove is a small dove named after its distinctive laugh-like vocalization. This ground-feeding, non-migratory bird is a regular inhabitant of man-altered environments such as villages, gardens, and orchards. In cities, these doves tend to become quite confident. They pair for life and live in very small communities.
5. Senegal Coucal
This is a medium-sized species at 39 cm (15 in). Its crown, nape and upper parts, bill, legs and long tail are black, the eyes are red, the wings are chestnut, and the underparts are creamy white, with blackish barring on the flanks. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are browner and more heavily barred above, with buff to cinnamon, barred and streaked underparts.
6. Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
The northern grey-headed sparrow (Passer griseus), also known as the grey-headed sparrow, is a species of bird in the sparrow family Passeridae, which is resident in much of tropical Africa. It occurs in a wide range of open habitats, including open woodlands and human habitation, often occupying the same niche as the house sparrow does in Eurasia. The adult northern grey-headed sparrow has a pale grey head with a white moustache stripe, pale brown upperparts, whitish underparts and chestnut wings with a small white shoulder patch. The sexes are similar, but young birds are slightly duller and lack the white wing patch. There are three subspecies, differing in plumage tone, especially with regard to the darkness of the head. This sparrow is mainly resident in its range, but there is some seasonal movement, and flocks of up to 50 birds form outside the breeding season. It builds a cup nest in trees, thatch, or old nests of other birds; 2–4 eggs are laid. This species feeds principally on seeds and grain, like other sparrows, but will readily take insects including termites, especially when feeding young. The calls include cheeps and chirps, and the typical sparrow churring alarm call. The northern grey-headed sparrow is replaced in eastern and southern Africa by very similar birds that are sometimes considered races of this species: Swainson's sparrow, the parrot-billed sparrow, the Swahili sparrow, and the southern grey-headed sparrow. According to phylogenetic studies by Arnaiz-Villena et al., this species is indeed related to the other grey-headed sparrows, and these species together are most closely related within genus Passer to the house sparrow and allies.
7. Woodland Kingfisher
This is a medium-sized kingfisher, 23 cm (9.1 in) in length. The adult has a bright blue back, wing panel and tail. Its head, neck and underparts are white, and its shoulders are black. The flight of the woodland kingfisher is rapid and direct. The large bill has a red upper mandible and black lower mandible. The legs and feet are dark grey. Some birds may have greyish heads, causing confusion with mangrove kingfisher. However, the lores are dark, creating a dark stripe through the eye (the stripe does not extend through the eye in mangrove kingfisher), and the underwing, primaries and secondaries are black with white underwing coverts (there is a black carpal patch on the white coverts in mangrove kingfisher). The inner webs of the base of the flight feathers are white, creating an indistinct white wingbar (white completely absent from wings in mangrove kingfisher). The breast is white (tends to be much greyer in mangrove kingfisher). The sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller than adults and have a brown bill. The call of this noisy kingfisher is a loud trill sounding like a nail run down the teeth of a comb.
8. Splendid Starling
9. Pied Crow
It is approximately the size of the European carrion crow or a little larger (46–50 cm in length) but has a proportionately larger bill, slightly longer tail and wings, and longer legs. As its name suggests, its glossy black head and neck are interrupted by a large area of white feathering from the shoulders down to the lower breast. The tail, bill and wings are black too. The eyes are dark brown. The white plumage of immature birds is often mixed with black. It resembles the white-necked and thick-billed ravens but has a much smaller bill.
10. Black-winged Kite
This long-winged raptor is predominantly grey or white with black shoulder patches, wing tips and eye stripe. The long falcon-like wings extend beyond the tail when the bird is perched. In flight, the short and square tail is visible and it is not forked as in the typical kites of the genus Milvus. When perched, often on roadside wires, it often adjusts its wings and jerks its tail up and down as if to balance itself. The sexes are alike in plumage. Their large forward-facing eyes placed under a bony shelf that shades them is distinctive; their velvety plumage and zygodactyl feet are characters shared with owls and the genus has been considered as a basal group within the Accipitridae. They are thought to have been adapted for living in savanna habitats where seasonal rodent population peaks occur. Such food resources are also favoured by the owls. The inner vanes of the feathers have velvety barbules. They have a diploid chromosome number of 68 (some older studies claimed 64 for E.c.caeruleus and 66 for E.c.vociferus) with a distinct karyotype with resemblances to the kites and honey buzzards and suggesting a basal position within the diurnal birds of prey.
11. Shikra
The Schikrasperber or Schikra (Accipiter badius) belongs to the family of the hawk-like (Accipitridae). The species is considered largely unexplored. It originally occurred in western Central Asia, South Kazakhstan and South Asia. Schikras have also been reported on the African continent.
12. Northern Fiscal
The northern fiscal (Lanius humeralis) is a member of the shrike family found through most of Sub-Saharan Africa. It used to be grouped with the southern fiscal (Lanius collaris). Together they were called the common fiscal.
13. Blue-spotted Wood Dove
The blue-spotted wood dove (Turtur afer) is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is abundantly present throughout Africa south of the Sahel; it is partially present in East Africa and absent in southern Africa.
14. Whimbrel
The whimbrel is a shorebird that is often found in coastal areas. It is often present in flocks, mixing with other shorebirds. It is distinguishable by its short, high-pitch whistles that males often emit to warn others of potential predators. A primary food source for the shorebird in the winter is the fiddler crab. Its curved bill allows the bird to easily dig into the crab’s burrow.
15. Cattle Egret
Cattle Egrets are short, thick-necked egrets. Their name refers to their preference to follow along with livestock as they forage in fields. Cattle Egrets were native only to Africa until the late 1800s when they somehow made their way throughout the Americas. They can often be found along airport runways waiting for planes to take off and blow insects out of the grass and weeds. They also follow behind farm equipment and do the same thing.
16. Little Swift
Little swifts are readily identified by their small size. Their wingspan is only 33 cm compared to 42 cm in the case of common swift. Their plumage is black except for a white throat and rump, the white rump patch extending onto the flanks. They have a short square tail, with all rectrices round-tipped. The flight is fluttering like that of a house martin, and the call is a high twittering. Like other swifts they are very short-legged. The legs are used for clinging to vertical surfaces only.
17. Common Sandpiper
While the common Sandpiper is considered a common shorebird around lakes and rivers, it does have a unique trait. The small bird bobs its tail, giving the appearance of wagging. The bird communicates with others by chirping in the air, but is silent when feeding on small crustaceans and invertebrates.
18. Great Egret
These tall birds are quite distinctive with their bright white feathers, black legs, and orange beaks. Great Egrets live near both fresh and saltwater, nesting high in trees to protect their eggs from predatory mammals. They are colonial nesters, living in large groups (colonies), and they find the majority of their food in the nearest body of water.
19. Malachite Kingfisher
20. Osprey
This large raptor is commonly known as osprey and can be found in every continent apart from Antarctica. It nests near bodies of water as its diet is made up of mostly fish and hunts with its clear vision that can see objects in the water while flying. The Pandion haliaetus usually mates for life.