Several bird atlasses have been published that include maps showing absence/presence in grids, allowing accurate distributions to be mapped. The map below shows the countries that have had at least one bird atlas published. Below the map there is a list of the atlas references.
Of the 54 African countries, some 23 have had a completed bird atlas project (Mozambique however has 2/3 of its area done). The grid scales vary from 1’x1′ in the Comores to 1°x1°, although most are 15’x15′ or 30’x30′.
Table. A list of bird atlasses in Africa
Listed in sequence of publication (SA = South Africa).
Years – main temporal coverage for atlas.
Grid size given in geographic minutes.
The reference details are given below the table.
| Country/ region |
Years | Grid size | Reference |
| SA – central Transvaal | (1953)-1968 | ~7’x7′ | Tarboton 1968a |
| SA – Kruger NP | -1974 | points | Kemp 1974a |
| SA – KwaZulu Natal | 1970-1980 | 15’x15′ | Cyrus 1980a |
| SA – Transvaal | 1960-1986 | 15’x15′ | Tarboton 1987b |
| SA – Free State | 1983-1986 | 15’x15′ | Earle 1987b |
| Sudan (incl S Sudan) | 1976-1984 | 60’x60′ | Nikolaus 1987a |
| SA – W Cape | 1982-1986 | 15’x15′ | Hockey 1989a |
| Kenya | 1970-1984 | 30’x30′ | Lewis 1989b (GBIF) |
| Lesotho | 1986-1989 | 15’x15′ | Osborne 1990a |
| Senegal & Gambia | (1930)-1990 | 60’x60′ | Morel 1990a |
| Somalia | 1982-1988 | 30’x30′ | Douthwaite 1991a |
| Botswana | 1980-1990 | 30’x30′ | Penry 1994a |
| Mali & Mauritania | point | Lamarche 1994a, 1993 | |
| Swaziland | 1985-1991 | 7.5’x7.5′ | Parker 1994a |
| Southern Africa | 1987-1991 [-1993] | 15’x15′ | Harrison 1997a (SABAP1) |
| Liberia | 1981-1994 | 15’x15′ | Gatter 1997a |
| Somalia | 1978-1981; 1978-1981 | 30’x30′ | Ash 1998a |
| Mozambique, south | 1980-1997 | 15’x15′ | Parker 1999a |
| Uganda | (1891)-1990s-(2004) | 30’x30′, points | Carswell 2005a |
| Mozambique, central | 1992-2003 | 15’x15′ | Parker 2005b |
| Malawi | (1980)-2005 | 30’x30′ | Dowsett-Lemaire 2006b |
| Zambia | 1975-2007 | 30’x30′ | Dowsett 2008a |
| Comores | 1981-2006 | 1’x1′ | Louette 2008a |
| Ethiopia & Eritrea | (1850)-1969, 1970-2007 | 30’x30′ | Ash 2009a |
| Mauritania | [all years] | 30’x30′ | Isenmann 2010a + web |
| Ghana | 2004-05, 2008-11 | 30’x30′ | Dowsett-Lemaire 2014a |
| Benin & Togo | [30’x30′] | Dowsett-Lemaire 2019a | |
| Tanzania | 1985 – on-going | 30’x30′ | Species maps and list by grid |
| SABAP2 & Birdmap Africa | 2007 – on-going | 5’x5′ | SABAP2 |
| West Africa | 2010 – on-going | West African Bird DataBase |
References
Ash 1983b. Birds of Somalia: their habitat, status and distribution. Scopus Supplement 1
Ash 1998a. Birds of Somalia. Pica Press, Sussex
Ash 2009a. Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea. An atlas of distribution. Helm, London
Carswell 2005a. Bird atlas of Uganda. Tring: British Ornithological Union checklist.
Cyrus 1980a. Bird Atlas of Natal. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg
Douthwaite 1991a. Additions to Birds of Somalia, their habitat, status and distribution (Ash & Miskell 1983). Scopus 14: 37-60
Dowsett-Lemaire F, Dowsett RJ 2014 The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press
Dowsett-Lemaire F, Dowsett RJ 2019 The Birds of Benin and Togo An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press
Dowsett 2008a. The Birds of Zambia. An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves (Liège, Belgium)
Earle 1987b. First atlas of bird distribution in the Orange Free State. National Museum, Bloemfontein
Gatter 1997a. Birds of Liberia. Pica Press, Sussex
Harrison 1997a. The atlas of southern African birds. Vol. 2: Passerines. BirdLife South Africa, Johannesburg
Hockey 1989a. Atlas of the birds of the south-western Cape. Cape Bird Club, Cape Town
Isenmann 2010a. Birds of Mauritania. Paris.
Jensen 1980b. The birds of the Gambia. Arhus, Denmark: Aros Nature Guides
Kemp 1974a. The distribution and status of the birds of the Kruger National Park. Koedoe monograph 2
Kemp 1985a. A catalogue of the birds of the Transvaal. Pretoria: Transvaal Museum/Transvaal Nature Conservation Division.
Cyclostyled manuscript.
Lamarche 1994a. Atlas de Répartition des Oiseaux du Mali et de Mauritanie. Nouakchott: Association des Naturalistes Sahariens et Quest-Africaines Vol 1-8
Lewis 1989b. A bird atlas of Kenya. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam
Louette 2008a. Atlas des oiseaux nicheurs de la Grande Comore, de Moheli et d’Anjouan. Musée royal de l’Afrique centrale (Studies in Afrotropical Zoology) 294
Morel 1990a. Les oiseaux de Sénégambie. Notices et cartes de distribution. Cah. O.R.S.T.O.M., sér. Biol., Paris
Nikolaus 1987a. Distribution atlas of Sudan’s birds with notes on habitat and status. Bonner Zoologische Monogr. 25
Osborne 1990a. The status and distribution of birds in Lesotho. Unpub., Nature Conserv. Bureau Ltd, Newbury, Berkshire.
Parker 1994a. Swaziland bird atlas 1985-1991. Websters, Mbabane, Swaziland
Parker 1999a. The atlas of the birds of Sul do Save, Southern Mozambique. Avian Demography Unit, Cape Town and Endangered
Wildlife Trust, Johannesburg
Penry 1994a. Bird atlas of Botswana. University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg
Tarboton 1968a. Check list of the birds of the south-central Transvaal. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand Bird Club
Tarboton 1987b. Birds of the Transvaal. Pretoria: Transvaal Museum.
