Common Birds in Sierra Leone
Our list for Sierra Leone has 21 common birds recorded regularly there: 7 winter visitors, 13 passage migrants and 1 scarce visitor
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Sierra Leone in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 21, most common first
Pied CrowCorvus albusWinter visitorCommon46–52 cmRegularly Sep–Jun
Cattle EgretArdea ibisWinter visitorCommon46–56 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Rock DoveColumba liviaPassage migrantCommon29–37 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
OspreyPandion haliaetusWinter visitorCommon54–58 cmRegularly Dec–May
Barn SwallowHirundo rusticaPassage migrantCommon17–19 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucosWinter visitorCommon18–20 cmRegularly Oct–Apr
Barn OwlTyto albaScarceCommon33–39 cmRegularly Jan
WhimbrelNumenius phaeopusPassage migrantCommon40–46 cmRegularly Oct–Mar
Common SwiftApus apusWinter visitorCommon16–17 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Fork-tailed DrongoDicrurus adsimilisPassage migrantCommon23–26 cmRegularly Apr
Yellow WagtailMotacilla flavaPassage migrantCommon15–17 cmRegularly Jan
African JacanaActophilornis africanusPassage migrantCommon23–31 cmRegularly Jan–Apr
European Pied FlycatcherFicedula hypoleucaPassage migrantCommon12–14 cmRegularly Jan
Great White EgretArdea albaWinter visitorCommon80–104 cmRegularly Dec–Apr
Grey HeronArdea cinereaPassage migrantCommon90–98 cmRegularly Dec–Feb
Little EgretEgretta garzettaWinter visitorCommon55–65 cmRegularly Dec–Feb
Lesser Striped SwallowCecropis abyssinicaPassage migrantCommon15–19 cmRegularly Dec–Apr
Black TernChlidonias nigerPassage migrantCommon22–26 cmRegularly Jan
GreenshankTringa nebulariaPassage migrantCommon30–35 cmRegularly Dec–Mar
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisPassage migrantCommon36–41 cmRegularly Dec–Jan
Squacco HeronArdeola ralloidesPassage migrantCommon40–49 cmRegularly Jan
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- European Pied Flycatcher 12–14 cm
- Yellow Wagtail 15–17 cm
- Common Swift 16–17 cm
- Lesser Striped Swallow 15–19 cm
- Barn Swallow 17–19 cm
- Common Sandpiper 18–20 cm
- Black Tern 22–26 cm
- Fork-tailed Drongo 23–26 cm
- African Jacana 23–31 cm
- Greenshank 30–35 cm
- Rock Dove 29–37 cm
- Barn Owl 33–39 cm
- Sandwich Tern 36–41 cm
- Whimbrel 40–46 cm
- Squacco Heron 40–49 cm
- Pied Crow 46–52 cm
- Cattle Egret 46–56 cm
- Osprey 54–58 cm
- Little Egret 55–65 cm
- Great White Egret 80–104 cm
- Grey Heron 90–98 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made