A report by Ian Sinclair and Peter Ryan
(featured in Africa Birds &
Birding, June/July 2003 issue)
Photographs by Peter Ryan
Luanda
Bay: Royal Terns feed along the waterfront,
but Fernando Po Swifts are the star attraction.
Gabela! The name
epitomises the excitement of birding in Angola - and the frustration that
27 years of civil war has largely prevented access to the region. With
its own akalat, bush-shrike and helmet-shrike, Gabela lies at the centre
of the Angolan scarp forest - a key endemic bird area that has been off
limits for a generation, giving it mythical status. Now, with the war
over, Ian Sinclair and Peter Ryan report on the first ornithological visits
to the region.
We arrived in Luanda, the Angolan capital, on 22 February, the anniversary
of UNITA leader Joseph Savimbi's death. Newspapers carried front-page
pictures of his bloody corpse, as if to reaffirm the end of the war. Although
the country still has numerous problems, not least assimilating the hundred
thousand former fighters, there has been an almost complete cessation
of fighting since Savimbi was killed. With the country starting to rebuild,
we were invited to assess the birding potential of the region south of
Luanda, centred on Cuanza Sul, one of Angola's 18 provinces. The offer
was hard to refuse, because it offered a chance to visit the scarp forest
around Gabela.
Luanda lies on the coast of Angola, less than 1000 km from the equator.
The city is bursting at the seams with 5 million people, almost half of
the vast nation's total population. Many of the colonial buildings along
the picturesque waterfront are being renovated, but they are surrounded
by sprawling shanty towns. Despite this, the city offers a few interesting
birds. The large brown swifts breeding in buildings along the waterfront
probably are Fernando Po Swifts, an extremely poorly known species only
recorded from a few localities in Angola, Bioko and the highlands of SW
Cameroon. Royal Terns feed in Luanda Bay, and the vast lagoon formed by
Mussulo peninsula that extends 37 km south-west of the city is worth a
look for its many waders and other waterbirds, including small numbers
of Gull-billed Terns. However, we were primarily interested in the region's
endemic birds, many of which have not been seen since the start of the
civil war in 1974.
Cliffs
dominate the coastline of much of Angola due to
uplifting of the coastal plain. At Porto Amboim an isolated
cliff remnant shelters the port's jetty.
Kissamo National Park, some 75 km south
of Luanda, has been open to tourists for the last few years. The riparian
forest and thicket are home to several Angolan endemics, including Grey-striped
Francolin, Red-backed Mousebird, White-fronted Wattle-eye and small numbers
of Red-crested Turacos, as well as near-endemics such as Pale Olive Greenbuls
and Bubbling Cisticolas. But we drove 200 km farther south to Porto Amboim
and Sumbe in Cunaza Sul Province. This route took us across the arid coastal
plain that is home to many species often considered southern Africa 'endemics',
such as Rüppell's Parrots, Grey-backed Sparrow-Larks, Bare-cheeked Babblers
and Pale-winged Starlings. However, it also supports several birds seldom
encountered farther south: Rufous-tailed Palm Thrushes sing from the denser
thickets, Grey Kestrels perch on the few surviving telephone poles, and
Angola Swallows are regular in small numbers. Palm-nut Vultures are common,
seemingly having displaced crows as the chief scavengers.
One of the most abundant species is the Bubbling Cisticola, a near-endemic
to Angola. It sounds very similar to a Rattling Cisticola, but has a plain
back and occurs in a wide range of habitats from arid scrub to forest
clearings and reedbeds. The endemic Red-backed Mousebird, which clearly
shows affinities to the Speckled Mousebird complex, also occupies a broad
range of habitats, and is fairly easily seen. Good early rains had carpeted
the usually dry coastal plain's euphorbia scrub and baobab savanna with
lush grassland, which may account for the apparently unusual sighting
of Black-faced Canaries at the coast. However, the ranges of many birds
in Angola are poorly known, and we extended the distributions of several
species on the coastal plain, including northward extensions for Augur
Buzzard, Rock-runner and White Helmet-Shrike, and a southward extension
for Long-legged Pipit.
The river systems also provided a few surprises. The Keve (or Cuvo) River,
which has a massive floodplain more than 30 km long, gave us southward
range extensions for Greater Swamp Warbler and the delicate Slender-billed
Weaver. It also had a few Loanda Swifts, the rare dark-rumped form of
Horus Swift, among the Little Swifts breeding under the main road bridge.
This wetland warrants further investigation, as it is likely to be of
regional importance for its large populations of waterbirds - not least
the huge numbers of Allen's Gallinule, a species formerly thought to be
relatively uncommon in Angola.
The
falls on the Keve River, on it's last decent before the floodplain.
Below
the falls, the Keve River meanders across a broad floodplain, attracting
a wide range of waterbirds.
Star of the show on the coastal plain,
though, was the stunning Golden-backed Bishop. Small flocks occur in well-grassed
savannas and in rank vegetation around the margins of wetlands. What sets
it apart from other bishops is the almost luminescent quality of the male's
golden-orange back, which contrasts starkly with the otherwise black plumage.
It is confined to Angola, but was taken by the Portuguese to the island
of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea. Ironically it is this introduced population
that has been ticked by many more birders than the native population.
One of the interesting things about birding Angola (or any new area for
that matter), is seeing new subspecies of familiar birds. In Angola, male
Village Weavers have chestnut breasts and more extensive black heads than
the supposedly conspecific 'Spotted-backed' Weavers of southern Africa.
Male Thick-billed Weavers have stunning chestnut heads, and are much more
striking than their dowdy southern relatives. Angola Swallows are darker
below than the more familiar populations in Tanzania and Malawi, although
they are not recognised as different subspecies. Southern Yellow-billed
Hornbills have mostly dark tails, browner upperparts and appear smaller
than birds in southern Africa. Given the recent splitting of hornbills,
this apparently undescribed variant requires further study.
But our main objective was to bird the forests found on the escarpment
inland from the coastal plain. These forests have affinities to the Congo
basin to the north as well as the montane forests of east Africa, and
are home to several extremely localised endemic birds. Leaving Sumbe on
the coast at 3h30, we headed inland up the road to Gabela. After 26 km,
this road crosses the spectacular Keve River falls, where the river makes
its final descent onto the coastal plain. Before dawn it was just a throaty
roar as we crossed the narrow bridge. From here, the road deteriorates
in proportion with the increasing rainfall. Our progress slowed as we
weaved between large potholes, and first light found us at the foot of
the scarp forest, slipping and sliding through muddy pools and dodging
stranded trucks.
The
road to Gabela from the coast degenerates into a slippery mud slope
as it starts to climb into the scarp forests.
Many species reach their southern limits
in these forests. The dawn chorus offered the promise of things to come,
with the mournful whistles of Brown Illadopsises, Fraser's Rufous Thrushes
and Forest Scrub Robins competing with the cheerful chuckles of Yellow-necked
Greenbuls and the deep grunts of Gabon Coucals. It didn't take long before
we'd seen the first of many Red-crested Turacos bounding through the tall
canopy - as an Angolan endemic this has been the toughest turaco for birders
to see. Other canopy species include exquisite Yellow-billed Barbets,
Black-throated Apalises and the local race of the decidedly ugly Naked-faced
Barbet. Lower down, the middle storey has Pink-footed Puffbacks, Green
Hylias and Green Crombecs, Olive-bellied Sunbirds and striking Yellow-throated
Nicator, with its fierce yellow supercilium. The diminutive Angola Batis
is also fairly common, and we obtained some of the first recordings of
its high-pitched song.
Ian had been up this road a few weeks before, and found the remaining
forests around Gabela town to be fairly inaccessible. Accordingly we turned
south on the road to Conda, which carries less traffic and is in better
shape than the Gabela road. After a few kilometres, the road recrosses
the Keve River at the six bridges. Our driver, a former MiG pilot in the
Angolan airforce, proudly informed us that this is where the South African
army's advance on Luanda was stopped. On a peaceful morning, it's hard
to imagine a major battle taking place on this tiny dirt track winding
through rolling hills in the middle of nowhere.
Conda was once a busy centre for coffee farming, but is now a sleepy hamlet
slowly awakening after the war years. Spectacular granite domes and pale,
quartzitic ridges punctuate the hilly terrain around the town. Most of
the area is clothed in grassland and scattered bush, with larger forest
patches primarily on the steeper slopes. The grassland is home to small
flocks of Compact Weavers, Orange-cheeked Waxbills, and the very green
endemic race of Bronze Sunbird. The forest edge and adjacent scrub supports
small numbers of Grey-striped Francolins along with the more common Red-necked
Francolin.
We headed 7 km down the Seles road to Kumbira, a small village next to
a large patch of intact forest. The recent rains, combined with the passage
of occasional banana trucks, had turned this road into a quagmire, so
we walked the last kilometres to the village. But the road runs through
degraded farmbush which is teeming with birds. The endemic Hartert's Camaroptera
is common in dense thickets, where it is joined by small groups of the
skulking and apparently scarce Pale Olive Greenbul - easily overlooked
if you don't know its querulous song and incessant 'prrt prrt' alarm call.
More easily seen are the many African Firefinches, Grey Waxbills and Black-and-white
Mannikins that forage on grass-seeds along the edge of the road. They
are joined by small numbers of Red-faced Crimsonwings and stunning Red-headed
Bluebills.
Much of the area is old coffee plantations. Fortunately, these were shade-coffee,
so much of the forest canopy was left intact. In some places, Grevillea
trees were planted to provide shade, but even these Australian trees are
good value, because their flowers attract many sunbirds, including the
aptly-named Superb Sunbird as well as the more subdued Green-headed and
Carmelite Sunbirds.
Kumbira
Forest, near Conda, nestled under the impressive quartzitic cliffs
of Njelo Mountain.
A
spectacular gorge cut through the elevated coastal plain by the
Cubal River, 15 kilometres south of Sumbe. The cliffs had the local
race of Peregrine, and African Hobby quartered the adjacent saltmarsh.
Two of the area's sought-after species
occur in this degraded forest. Monteiro's Bush-Shrike, known only from
a handful of specimens from the Angolan scarp forest and a few recent
sightings from SW Cameroon, is surprisingly common. Its call is almost
identical to the closely related Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, and several
could be heard calling at once each morning. In the field, it differs
from Grey-headed Bush-Shrike in having a darker eye, a more extensive
pale face and cold yellow underparts, lacking any orange wash on the breast
or flanks.
The other endemic with broad habitat tolerances is the Gabela Bush-Shrike.
Also known as the Amboim Boubou, it is closely related to Lühder's Bush-Shrike,
but has crisp white underparts and a deep chestnut cap. It is easily overlooked
unless it is calling, but is fairly common in farmbush as well as intact
forest. The Gabela scarp forests support a remarkable diversity of bush-shrikes,
because in addition to these two range-restricted species, there are large
numbers of Perrin's Bush-Shrikes, a few Orange-breasted Bush-Shrikes in
the more open forest, and Many-coloured Bush-Shrike has been collected
in the area.
The Gabela Akalat is perhaps the only endemic that requires intact forest.
It occurs in areas with dense understorey, and is quite secretive. We
found only one bird, whose presence was given away by its soft, mournful
'tiuu tiuu tiuu tiuu' song, descending in pitch. It was quite hard to
observe, and playback of its song seemed to stir up Forest Scrub-Robins,
which have a similar but more varied song. One scrub-robin was seen to
chase the akalat, and it is possible that the relative abundance of scrub-robins
at Kumbira may account for the scarcity of akalats.
There are many other good birds in the scarp forests. Bird parties move
through the canopy, centred on small flocks of Dusky Tits. This highly
isolated population of tits is smaller and paler than other Dusky Tits,
and is recognised as a different subspecies. Joining them in the bird
parties are a host of other birds, including Petit's Cuckoo-Shrikes, Grey
Apalises, African Blue Flycatchers, Rufous-vented Paradise Flycatchers,
both Yellow-breasted and Southern Hyliotas, and Brown-capped Weavers.
Strangely, some species are seemingly absent from Kumbira. There are no
large hornbills, and we heard no trogons or Square-tailed Drongos (although
both are known from Gabela). Barbets and woodpeckers are quite well-represented,
however, and we recorded a range extension for the Hairy-breasted Barbet.
Another first for Cuanza Sul was Slender-billed Greenbul, a distinctive
greenbul that probably escaped the early collectors due to its canopy-dwelling
habits.
Of the remaining localised endemics, Gabela Helmet-Shrike probably occurs
in more open woodland. We didn't encounter any at Kumbira, but Ian had
a small flock farther down the road from Kumbira to Seles. The other endemic,
Pulitzer's Longbill, apparently reaches its northern limit in Cuanza Sul,
where it was collected near Seles. Known from only a handful of specimens,
this species has not been seen since 1974, and virtually nothing is known
about its biology.
There was no sign of the longbill at Kumbira, and unfortunately the road
through to Seles was impassable. We returned to the coast and took the
direct road from Sumbe to Seles, which proved to be in better shape than
the Gabela road. Within minutes of stopping in a rather scrubby, degraded
forest west of Seles we had located the bird by its distinctive song.
Contrary to early reports, it is not particularly secretive, and responds
aggressively to play-back. Now that its song is known, it will be much
easier to tell whether its distribution is really as restricted as the
few specimens collected to date suggest. Unfortunately we didn't have
much time to explore this area, which probably shares many of the species
found farther north at Kumbira. A bonus here was an obliging pair of White-fronted
Wattle-eyes, which allowed us to make the first recordings of their buzzy
song duet.
Because of the lack of knowledge of the restricted-range endemics, and
a perceived loss of habitat, many of the Angolan scarp endemics currently
are listed as Endangered. Our limited observations suggest that these
concerns may be overly pessimistic, at least for some species such as
Gabela Bush-Shrike and Pulitzer's Longbill, which are tolerant of degraded
vegetation. However, a comprehensive survey of remaining forest habitat
and an assessment of the likely future rate of forest loss is needed to
revise the levels of threat facing different species, and to establish
a viable conservation target for the long-term persistence of these forests
and their unique birds.
There remain many other challenges for birders in Angola. The higher elevation
forests inland from the scarp forests support other endemics that await
rediscovery, including Swierstra's Francolin, Angola Cave-Chat and Angola
Slaty-Flycatcher. Farther north the focus is on Braun's Bush-Shrike and
White-headed Robin-Chat. Hopefully the country's troubles are now a thing
of the past, and it will only be a matter of time before Angola is firmly
on the birding map.
Visiting and logistics
Birding Africa organises birding tours into Angola. Independent birders
can fly into Luanda from Johannesburg and other major centres. Visitors
from most countries need a visa, which requires a letter of invitation,
and you also need a current yellow fever vaccination certificate. Good
news for South Africans is that the Angolan and South African governments
recently agreed to cancel visa requirements. Luanda and the major coastal
towns offer accommodation in hotels and pensions, but conditions are often
rustic, and relatively expensive (US$40-200 per night). Most food is imported,
and also expensive, although local produce is much cheaper in the countryside.
US dollars are the best currency to take, but old notes (with 'little
heads') generally are not accepted. Officially all dollars should be changed
into Angolan Kwanzas through banks, but at least in Luanda most shops
accept US dollars, giving change in either dollars or Kwanzas. We also
heard some bad reports about changing dollars in banks.
Roads are generally poor, especially in the interior. A vehicle with good
clearance is essential, and four-wheel drive is preferred, especially
during the rainy season (February-April). It is best to have a driver
to help you negotiate the maze of streets in Luanda, and to translate
if you don't speak Portuguese. Fuel is cheap in Luanda (approximately
US$ 20c per litre), but is much more costly further afield ($1.25 per
litre in Sumbe). Petrol is also not always available, so take every opportunity
to fill up, and try to carry a jerry can or two for insurance.
