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Home , Cuanza Sul Province, Luanda, Porto Amboim, Sumbe

Cuanza Sul The heart of

Photographs by Peter Ryan

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 ornitho- logical visits to the region.  angola

Luanda

cuanza norte quiçama national park

cuanza sul

Porto Amboim Gabela angola Conda Keve Seles

Cubal a nti c O c e a n Atl

e arrived in , the An-golan capital, on 22 February, the W anniversary of UNITA leader Joseph Savimbi’s death. Newspapers car- ried 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 of which is assimilat- Previous spread . Royal ing the 100 000 former soldiers, there has Terns feed along the waterfront, but been a virtual cessation of fighting since Fernando Po Swifts are the star attraction. Savimbi was killed. With the country start- ing to rebuild, we were invited to assess Below Cliffs dominate the coastline the birding potential of the region south of much of Angola due to uplifting of Luanda, centred on Cuanza Sul, one of of the coastal plain. At Amboim Angola’s 18 provinces. The offer was hard an isolated cliff remnant shelters the to refuse, because it gave us a chance to port’s jetty. visit the scarp forest around Gabela. Luanda lies on the coast of Angola, less city is worth a look for its many waders route took us across the arid coastal plain A spectacular gorge cut through the than 1 000 kilometres from the equator. and other waterbirds, including small that is home to many species often con- elevated coastal plain by the The city is bursting at the seams with five numbers of Gull-billed Terns. sidered southern African ‘endemics’, such River, 15 kilometres south of Sumbe. million people, almost half of this vast However, we were primarily interested as Rüppell’s Parrot, Grey-backed Sparrow- The cliffs had the local race of Peregrine, country’s total population. Many of the in the region’s endemic birds, many of Lark, Bare-cheeked Babbler and Pale- and African Hobby quartered the colonial buildings along the picturesque which have not been seen since the start winged Starling. However, it also supports adjacent saltmarsh. waterfront are being renovated, but they of the civil war in 1974. several birds seldom encountered further are surrounded by sprawling shanty Quiçama National Park, some 75 kilo- south: Rufous-tailed Palm Thrushes sing towns. Despite this, the city offers a few metres south of Luanda, has been open from the denser thickets, Grey Kestrels interesting birds. The large brown swifts to tourists for the past few years. The ripar- perch on the few surviving telephone breeding in buildings along the water- ian forest and thicket support several poles, and Angola Swallows are regular in front are probably Fernando Po Swifts, Angolan endemics, including Grey-striped small numbers. Palm-nut Vultures are an extremely poorly known species Francolin, Red-backed Mousebird, White- common, having seemingly displaced recorded only from a few localities in fronted Wattle-eye and small numbers of crows as the chief scavengers. Angola, Bioko and the highlands of Red-crested Turacos, as well as near- One of the most abundant species is the south-western . Royal Terns endemics such as Pale Olive Greenbuls Bubbling Cisticola, a near-endemic to feed in Luanda Bay, and the vast lagoon and Bubbling Cisticolas. But we drove 200 Angola. It sounds very similar to Rattling formed by the peninsula that kilometres further south to Cisticola, but has a plain back and occurs extends 37 kilometres south-west of the and Sumbe in . This in a wide range of habitats, from arid 

44 angola – birds & birding june/july 2003 angola 45 Red-crested Turaco scrub to forest the Little Swifts breeding under the main Africa. Male Thick-billed Weavers have Ian had been up this road a few weeks clearings and reedbeds. road bridge. This wetland warrants further stunning chestnut heads, and are much previously and found the remaining for- The endemic Red-backed investigation as it is likely to be of region- more striking than their dowdy southern ests around Gabela town to be fairly inac- Mousebird, which clearly al importance for its large populations of relatives. Angola Swallows are darker cessible. Accordingly, we turned south on shows affinities to the waterbirds, not least the huge numbers of below than the more familiar populations the road to Conda, which carries less Speckled Mousebird com- Allen’s (Lesser) Gallinule, a species that in and , although they and is in better shape than the plex, also occupies a broad was formerly thought to be relatively are not recognised as a different subspe- Gabela road. After a few kilometres, the range of habitats, and is uncommon in Angola. cies. Southern Yellow-billed Hornbills have road recrosses the Keve River at the ‘six fairly easily seen. Good early Star of the show on the coastal plain, mostly dark tails, browner upperparts and bridges’. Our driver, a former MiG pilot in rains had carpeted the usually dry coastal though, was the stunning Golden-backed appear smaller than the birds in southern the Angolan airforce, proudly informed plain’s euphorbia scrub and baobab savan- Bishop. Small flocks occur in well-grassed Africa. Given the recent splitting of horn- us that this is where the South African na with lush grassland, which might savannas and in rank vegetation around bills, this apparently undescribed variant army’s advance on Luanda had been account for the apparently unusual sight- the margins of wetlands. What sets it apart requires further study. stopped. Somehow, on such a peaceful ing of Black-faced Canaries at the coast. In from other bishops is the almost lumines- But our main objective was to bird the morning, it was difficult to imagine a general the ranges of many birds in Angola cent quality of the male’s golden-orange forests of the escarpment inland from the major battle taking place on this tiny dirt are poorly known and we extended the back, which contrasts starkly with the coastal plain. These forests have affinities track winding through rolling hills in the The road to Gabela from the coast distributions of several species on the otherwise black plumage. It is endemic to to both the Congo basin to the north and middle of nowhere. degenerates into a slippery mud slope as coastal plain, including northward exten- Angola, but was taken by the Portuguese the montane forests of East Africa, and Conda, once a busy centre for it starts to climb into the scarp forests. sions for Augur Buzzard, Rockrunner and to the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of are home to several extremely localised farming, is now a sleepy hamlet slowly White Helmet-Shrike, and a southward . Ironically, the introduced popula- endemic birds. awakening after the war years. Spectacular extension for Long-legged Pipit. tion has been ticked by many more birders Leaving Sumbe on the coast at 03h30, granite domes and pale quartzitic ridges The river systems also provided a few than the native population. we headed inland, up the road to Gabela. punctuate the hilly terrain around the surprises. The Keve (or Cuvo) River, which One of the interesting things about After 26 kilometres, the road crosses the town. Most of the area is clothed in grass- has a massive floodplain more than 30 birding Angola (or any new area for that spectacular Keve River falls, where the land and scattered bush, with larger forest kilometres long, gave us southward range matter) is seeing new subspecies of famil- river makes its final descent on to the patches primarily on the steeper slopes. extensions for Greater Swamp Warbler iar birds. In Angola, male Village Weavers coastal plain. Before dawn it was just a The grassland is home to small flocks and the delicate Slender-billed Weaver. It have chestnut breasts and more extensive throaty roar as we crossed the narrow of Compact Weavers, Orange-cheeked The falls on the Keve River, on its last also had a few Loanda Swifts (the rare black heads than the supposedly conspe- bridge. From there, the road deteriorated Waxbills, and the very green endemic race descent before the floodplain. dark-rumped form of Horus Swift) among cific ‘Spotted-backed’ Weavers of southern in proportion with the increasing rainfall of Bronze Sunbird. The forest edge and and our progress slowed as we weaved adjacent scrub supports small numbers of between large potholes. First light found Grey-striped Francolins along with the us at the foot of the scarp forest, slipping more common Red-necked. and sliding through muddy pools and We headed seven kilometres down the dodging stranded trucks. Seles road to Kumbira, a small village Many species reach their southern lim- adjoining a large patch of intact forest. its in these forests. The dawn chorus The recent rains, combined with the offered the promise of things to come, occasional passage of banana trucks, had Below the falls, the Keve River meanders with the mournful whistles of Brown reduced the road to a quagmire, so across a broad floodplain, attracting a Illadopsises, Fraser’s Rufous Thrushes and we walked the last kilometres to the  wide range of waterbirds. Forest Scrub Robins competing with the cheerful chuckles of Yellow-necked Greenbuls and the deep grunts of 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 tough- est turaco for birders to see. Other canopy species that we encoun- tered included the exquisite Yellow-billed Barbet, Black-throated Apalis and the local race of the decidedly ugly Naked-faced Barbet. Lower down, the middle storey has Pink-footed Puffback, Green Hylia and Green Crombec, Olive-bellied Sunbird and the striking Yellow-throated Nicator, with its fierce yellow supercilium. The diminu- tive Angola Batis is also fairly common, and we obtained some of the first record- ings of its high-pitched song.

june/july 2003 angola 47 village. But the road runs through degrad- grass-seeds along the edge of the road. sunbirds, including the aptly-named and several could be heard calling at once ed farmbush which is teeming with birds. They are joined by small numbers of Red- Superb Sunbird and the more subdued each morning. In the field, it differs from The endemic Hartert’s Camaroptera is faced Crimsonwings as well as stunning Green-headed and Carmelite sunbirds. Grey-headed Bush-Shrike in having a common in dense thickets, where it is Red-headed Bluebills. Two of the area’s sought-after species darker eye, a more extensive pale face and joined by small groups of the skulking and Much of the area consists of old occur in this degraded forest. Monteiro’s cold yellow underparts, lacking any orange apparently scarce Pale Olive Greenbul – coffee plantations. Fortunately, these were Bush-Shrike, known only from a hand- wash on the breast or flanks. easily overlooked if you don’t know its shade-coffee, so much of the forest canopy ful of specimens from the Angolan scarp The other endemic with broad habitat querulous song and incessant ‘prrt prrt’ was left intact. In some places, Grevillea forest and a few recent sightings from tolerances is the Gabela Bush-Shrike. Also Kumbira Forest, near Conda, nestled alarm call. More easily seen are the many trees were planted to provide shade, but south-western Cameroon, is surprisingly known as the Amboim Boubou, it is under the impressive quartzitic cliffs of African Firefinches, Grey Waxbills and even these Australian trees are good value, common. Its call is almost identical to the closely related to Lühder’s Bush-Shrike, Njelo Mountain. Black-and-white Mannikins that forage on because their flowers attract numerous closely related Grey-headed 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 farm- bush as well as intact forest. The Gabela scarp forests sup- port a remarkable diver- sity of bush-shrikes: in Gabela Bush-Shrike addition to these two range-restricted species, there are large numbers of Perrin’s Bush- Shrikes and 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 difficult to observe, and playback of its song seemed to stir up Forest Scrub-Robins, which have a similar but more varied song. One scrub- Gabela Akalat 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 popula- tion 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 Fly- catchers, Rufous-vented Gabela Helmet-Shrike 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 

48 angola africa – birds & birding june/july 2003 angola 49 extension for the Hairy-breasted Barbet. There was no sign of the longbill at Another first for Cuanza Sul was Slender- Kumbira, and unfortunately the road billed Greenbul, a distinctive greenbul that through to Seles was impassable. We Pulitzer’s Longbill probably escaped the early collectors as a returned to the coast and took the direct result of its canopy-dwelling habits. road from Sumbe to Seles, which proved Of the remaining localised to be in better shape than the Gabela road. endemics, Gabela Helmet-Shrike Within minutes of stopping in a rather probably occurs in more open woodland. scrubby, degraded forest west of Seles we We didn’t encounter any at Kumbira, but had located the bird by its distinctive Ian had a small flock further down the song. Contrary to early reports, it is not road from Kumbira to Seles. The other particularly secretive and responds aggres- endemic, Pulitzer’s Longbill, apparently sively to play-back. Now that its song is reaches its northern limit in Cuanza Sul, known, it will be much easier to tell where it was collected near Seles. Known whether its distribution is really as restrict- from only a handful of specimens, this spe- ed as the few specimens collected to date cies has not been seen since 1974 and vir- suggest. Unfortunately we didn’t have tually nothing is known about its biology. much time to explore this area, which probably shares many of the species found further north at Kumbira. A bonus here was an obliging pair of White-fronted OFF YOU GO... Wattle-eyes, which allowed us to make the first recordings of their buzzy song duet. Visiting and logistics opportunity to fill up and try to carry a Because of the lack of knowledge of the There are currently no organised birding jerrycan or two for insurance. restricted-range endemics and a perceived tours into Angola. Independent birders can fly into Luanda from and Safety loss of habitat, many of the endemics of other major centres. As in any large city, you need to be wary of the Angolan scarp are currently listed as Visitors from most countries need a visa, theft in Luanda. Some areas apparently are Endangered. Our limited observations which requires a letter of invitation, and best not visited after dark. suggest that these concerns may be overly you also need a current yellow-fever vaccina- Travelling outside Luanda, it is best pessimistic, at least for some species such tion certificate. Good news for South Africans to notify the local authorities (police comman- as Gabela Bush-Shrike and Pulitzer’s is that the Angolan and South African dant or district commissioner) of your plans Longbill, which are tolerant of degraded governments recently agreed to cancel when you arrive in a new district. vegetation. However, a comprehensive visa requirements. Landmines and anti-personnel mines are survey of remaining forest habitat and an Luanda and the major coastal towns a major problem in some places. Check with assessment of the likely future rate of for- offer accommodation in hotels and pensions, local people whether there are mines in an but conditions are often rustic, and relatively area, and don’t stray off roads or well-trodden est loss is needed to revise the levels of expensive (US$40–200 per night). Most paths just in case. When mines are located, threat facing different species, and to food is imported, and also expensive, they are marked with flags prior to removal. establish a viable conservation target for although local produce is much cheaper There are also other hazards: the forest at the long-term persistence of these forests in the countryside. Kumbira has gin traps set to catch game, so and their unique birds. US dollars are the best currency to take, think twice before chasing off trails after birds. There remain many other challenges for but old notes (with ‘little heads’) generally birders in Angola. The higher elevation are not accepted. Officially, all dollars forests inland from the scarp forests sup- should be changed into Angolan port other endemics that await rediscov- Kwanzas through banks, but in Luanda ery, including Swierstra’s Francolin, Angola at least most shops accept US dollars, giving change in either dollars or Cave-Chat and Angola Slaty-Flycatcher. Kwanzas. We also heard some bad Further north the focus is on Braun’s reports about changing dollars in banks. Bush-Shrike and White-headed Robin- Roads are generally poor, especially Chat. Hopefully the country’s troubles are in the interior. A vehicle with high clear- now a thing of the past and it will only be ance is essential, and four-wheel drive a matter of time before Angola is firmly on is preferable, especially during the rainy the birding map.  season (February–April). It is best to have a driver to help you negotiate the maze Acknowledgements of streets in Luanda, and to translate The illustrations by Norman Arlott if you don’t speak Portuguese. Fuel is reproduced in this article are taken from cheap in Luanda (approximately US$ 20c per litre), but is much more costly further Landmines and anti-personnel mines are a the forthcoming Birds of Africa south afield ($1.25 per litre in Sumbe). Petrol is major problem in some places. Located mines of the Sahara (Sinclair & Ryan), published also not always available, so take every are marked with flags prior to removal. by Struik, with kind permission of the sponsor and publisher.

50 angola africa – birds & birding