Located about 150 kilometers from Banjul, Tendaba River Camp is ideally positioned between Banjul and Georgetown, making it a central stop for tourists exploring the upcountry. This well-known camp offers a range of accommodations, from basic rooms to VIP seaside lodges with air conditioning. The surrounding area includes diverse habitats such as Tendaba Airfield, productive creeks, farmlands, savanna bushes, wetlands, hills, orchards, and Kiang West National Park. These varied habitats make Tendaba an excellent destination for bird watching, best enjoyed over two or more days. Visitors may also encounter wildlife such as patas monkeys, Guinea baboons, warthogs, and antelopes.

Birds:
Abyssinian ground hornbill, bronze-winged courser, Goliath heron, blue flycatcher, African finfoot, Pel’s fishing owl, Temminck’s courser, standard-winged nightjar, white-backed vulture, palm-nut vulture, Rüppell’s vulture, European white-headed vulture, harrier hawk, woolly-necked stork, and others.

Situated on the island in the Central River Region, Georgetown (now Janjangbureh) is the second-largest island in the Gambia and serves as the regional administrative center. Accommodations vary from basic lodgings to VIP rooms with air conditioning. The island holds rich historical significance and is a popular base for bird watchers in the region. The area attracts a wide variety of bird species.

Birds:
Shining-blue kingfisher, African finfoot, African fish eagle, European turtle dove, Adamawa turtle dove, hadada ibis, Wilson’s indigo bird, spotted thick-knee, crimson seedcracker, and many more.

Covering approximately 222 square kilometers, Bao Bolong is the largest protected area in the Gambia. Its open landscapes, scattered tree stumps, and salt marshes make it ideal for spotting water and predatory birds.

Birds:
Various water birds and raptors.

Despite some land development on its edges, Brufut Woods remains an excellent birding site near the coast. The area supports birds such as the long-tailed nightjar, which can be approached as closely as two meters. Other species are also present throughout the woodland.

Birds:
Long-tailed nightjar, white-faced scops owl, Verreaux’s eagle owl, yellow white-eye, yellow-throated leaf love, lavender waxbill, orange-cheeked waxbill, blue-spotted wood dove, black-billed wood dove, green turaco, shikra, and others.

This coastal road is slanted towards tidal mudflats, creating an ideal habitat for a variety of coastal birds, especially during low and high tides.

Birds:
African skimmer, great white pelican, Caspian tern, lesser crested tern, pomarine skua, arctic skua, great skua, green-headed sunbird, zitting cisticola, red-winged warbler, black-headed gull, and others.

Calypso Pool, a freshwater pool with crocodiles, features dense elephant grass on its southeastern and eastern sides. Nearby, Cape Creek consists of salt marshes and mangroves with mudflats exposed at low tide. Both areas are excellent for bird watching..

Birds:
Purple heron, little bittern, yellow-crowned bishop, black-winged red bishop, northern red bishop, red-chested swallow, tawny-flanked prinia, ringed plover, little ringed plover, grey plover, yellow-throated longclaw, wattle plover, bar-tailed godwit, greater and lesser flamingos, pied avocet, marsh harrier, lizard buzzard, dark chanting goshawk, and others.

Covering 110 square kilometers, this area became a national park in 1987 and preserves much of the country’s remaining wildlife. Bird life is abundant, with over half of the Gambian bird list recorded here.

Birds:
Four-banded sandgrouse, green-winged pytilia, red-winged pytilia, white-headed vulture, helmeted guineafowl, African hobby, common quail, quail plover, bronze-winged courser, Temminck’s courser, Abyssinian ground hornbill, white-shouldered black tit, green wood hoopoe, white-crested helmetshrike, and others.

Recently discovered, Pirang Forest is a primary forest that supports rare and hard-to-find bird species. Seasonal protection measures ensure its preservation.

Birds:
African wood owl, white-spotted flufftail, leaflove, capuchin babbler, western nicator, green hylia, green crombec, grey-headed bushshrike, Ahanta francolin, western bluebill, white-faced scops owl, and others.

Stretching along the North Bank road toward Georgetown, this evergreen swamp remains wet year-round, attracting a variety of waterbirds and reed-dwelling species.

Birds:
Zebra waxbill, Sudan golden sparrow, African pygmy goose, speckle-fronted weaver, and others.

Local quarrying has created habitats that some birds exploit, including nesting colonies.

Birds:
Red-throated bee-eater, exclamatory paradise whydah, bush petronia, cinnamon-breasted bunting, ortolan bunting, and others.

A highly accessible coastal birding hotspot featuring a mix of habitats including creeks, rice and potato fields, sewage ponds, and golf course areas. Photographers and bird watchers can see over 100 species in a full day.

Birds:
Oriole warbler, giant kingfisher, blue-breasted kingfisher, malachite kingfisher, common pied kingfisher, greater painted snipe, golden oriole, and others.

Located near Brikama, this camp features pools and woodland attracting a variety of bird species.

Birds:
All three regional honeyguides, violet turaco, red-bellied paradise flycatcher, giant kingfisher, blue-breasted kingfisher, purple glossy starling, greater blue-eared starling, lesser blue-eared starling, white-breasted cuckoo-shrike, red-shouldered cuckoo-shrike, violet-backed starling, grey-headed bushshrike, African golden oriole, yellow-shouldered widowbird, western banded snake eagle, long-crested eagle, African hawk-eagle, short-toed eagle, lizard buzzard, dark chanting goshawk, grasshopper buzzard, marsh harrier, and others.

These freshwater ponds, formed by sand mining, support rich avifauna year-round. Nearby rice fields provide additional feeding grounds for seed-eating birds.

Birds:
Spur-winged plover, wattle plover, hooded vulture, African crake, white-fronted plover, white-throated bee-eater, purple swamp hen, knob-billed duck, four-banded sandgrouse, marsh harrier, short-toed eagle, African spoonbill, Audouin’s gull, and others.

Located in southeastern Senegal, this park spans over 9,000 square kilometers. It supports large mammals and diverse bird species, some of which are rare in the Gambia.

Birds:
Lesser striped swallow, bat hawk, Egyptian plover, white-crowned plover, saddle-billed stork, African pied wagtail, magpie manikin, and others.

A convenient coastal site 25 minutes from Kotu, Tanji is an important stop for Palearctic migrants during winter.

Birds:
Little gull, Audouin’s gull, kelp gull, stone partridge, violet turaco, crested lark, common nightingale, chiffchaff, four-banded sandgrouse, quail plover, marsh owl, osprey, pink-backed pelican, pomarine skua, and others.

Located 387 kilometers from Banjul, Basse is an important town for spotting late-season species like the Egyptian plover and carmine bee-eater.

Birds:
Egyptian plover, carmine bee-eater, barred-breasted firefinch, and others.

This rice field area is regarded as one of the best raptor hotspots in the Gambia, with several year-round ponds attracting a variety of species.

Birds:
Bateleur, martial eagle, booted eagle, western banded snake eagle, short-toed eagle, Wahlberg’s eagle, Ayres’s hawk eagle, brown snake eagle, long-crested eagle, grasshopper buzzard, African harrier-hawk, pied-winged swallow, green-headed sunbird, and others.