Birds to See in Sierra Leone in December
15 bird species on our list for Sierra Leone are recorded regularly in December
Of these, the most often recorded are Pied Crow, Barn Swallow, Cattle Egret, Common Swift and Common Sandpiper. New this month: Osprey, Great White Egret, Grey Heron and Little Egret and 5 more.
On the move in December
GBIF · DecArriving
From Sierra Leone’s bird records, 2019–2024: arriving birds are regular this month but not last; leaving birds are regular this month but not next.
Other months
All 15 birds in December
15 birds
Pied CrowCorvus albusWinter visitorCommon46–52 cmRegularly Sep–Jun · 1.59% in Dec
Barn SwallowHirundo rusticaPassage migrantCommon17–19 cmRegularly Nov–Apr · 1.38% in Dec
Cattle EgretArdea ibisWinter visitorCommon46–56 cmRegularly Nov–Apr · 1.08% in Dec
Common SwiftApus apusWinter visitorCommon16–17 cmRegularly Nov–Apr · 0.99% in Dec
Common SandpiperActitis hypoleucosWinter visitorCommon18–20 cmRegularly Oct–Apr · 0.90% in Dec
OspreyPandion haliaetusWinter visitorCommon54–58 cmRegularly Dec–May · 0.47% in Dec
Lesser Striped SwallowCecropis abyssinicaPassage migrantCommon15–19 cmRegularly Dec–Apr · 0.34% in Dec
GreenshankTringa nebulariaPassage migrantCommon30–35 cmRegularly Dec–Mar · 0.30% in Dec
WhimbrelNumenius phaeopusPassage migrantCommon40–46 cmRegularly Oct–Mar · 0.30% in Dec
Little EgretEgretta garzettaWinter visitorCommon55–65 cmRegularly Dec–Feb · 0.26% in Dec
Grey HeronArdea cinereaPassage migrantCommon90–98 cmRegularly Dec–Feb · 0.22% in Dec
Great White EgretArdea albaWinter visitorCommon80–104 cmRegularly Dec–Apr · 0.17% in Dec
Sandwich TernThalasseus sandvicensisPassage migrantCommon36–41 cmRegularly Dec–Jan · 0.17% in Dec
Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaPassage migrantUncommon27–30 cmRegularly Dec · 0.13% in Dec
Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticulaPassage migrantUncommon17–19 cmRegularly Dec–Jan · 0.13% in Dec
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Common Swift 16–17 cm
- Lesser Striped Swallow 15–19 cm
- Barn Swallow 17–19 cm
- Ringed Plover 17–19 cm
- Common Sandpiper 18–20 cm
- Grey Plover 27–30 cm
- Greenshank 30–35 cm
- Sandwich Tern 36–41 cm
- Whimbrel 40–46 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