Basics: 1997, hardcover, 320 pages, color illustrations of 29 species, color photos of 55 species, 400 species discussed, distribution maps

This is a good reference that addresses a little-published area of western Africa. Covering nearly all of Liberia’s birds, this book gives a brief synopsis of its 400 species and provides an atlas-type map for each bird.

The focus of this book is to give a written account of Liberia’s birds and to succinctly document their life history. Each bird receives 2 short paragraphs. One describes the habits and ecology of the bird’s environment. A second, called Annual Cycle, details the seasonal timing of the bird’s molt, calling, and nesting.

With the text is a standard map of Liberia for each bird. In the fashion of a breeding atlas, a large dot marks a site record of where the bird has been documented.

The authors have put in some excellent information in the first 75 pages of the book, information that might be difficult to find anywhere else on Liberia. They cover a wide gamut of topics from political and ornithological history, to geography, vegetation, and climate, to biological seasons, molt, and migration, to ecology and conservation. Another 51 photos at the back of the book provide both black-and-white historical records and color images of the habitat varieties in the country.

This is primarily a life history reference, not an identification guide; thus, there are zero descriptions of the birds. However, the book does offer a small sample of superb illustrations on four plates showing 29 species. These plates are quality work and highlight some of the more colorful or unique birds of Liberia. Another 55 species are shown with color photographs found at the end of the book. Some of these photos are good (e.g., nightjars, roller), but most are of average quality (some are small or distant) that adequately exhibit some of the country’s birds.

This book will be a good supplement to those birders with a special interest in the life histories Liberia’s birds or, in the western region of coastal Africa. If you intend to go birding in Liberia, this book does not need to accompany you. It is a reference that should be read at home. It is not a field or identification guide. For that, there are several quality field guides available. (e.g., Sinclair/Ryan or Borrow/Demey).

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) The Birds of Mount Nimba, Liberia by Colston
2) Birds of Africa South of the Sahara by Sinclair/Ryan
3) A Field Guide to Birds of The Gambia and Senegal by Barlow/Wacher
4) Field Guide to the Birds of West Africa by Serle/Hartwig
5) A Guide to the Birds of Western Africa by Borrow/Demey
6) A Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of The Gambia and West Africa by Silva et al. ( )