Birds of Libya / Oiseaux de Libye

This is the fourth major work on North African birds to be published by SEOF with previous volumes having covered Algeria, Mauritania and Tunisia. The link between each of these has been Paul Isenmann of the French institute CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). This time he has partnered with Khaled Etayeb, Mohamed Essghaier and Essam Bourass from Libya together with other ornithologists from Germany and Tunisia to create a much-needed avifauna of the country – effectively the first since the BOU Checklist “The Birds of Libya” written by Graham Bundy in 1976.

As is the case with the previous volumes, the book is written in English and French and gives details of 350 bird species that have been recorded in Libya (compared to 317 listed by Bundy). The fourth largest country in Africa, Libya extends across almost 1.8 million square kilometres. Its coastline of 1,770 kilometres is the longest of any African country bordering the Mediterranean. However only about 100 species breed here compared to almost twice that number in Tunisia, which is just a tenth of its size. This is primarily due to the lack of available habitats with most of the country being Saharan desert.

The book gives an introduction to the country with an outline of its climate and geography, plus a detailed review of the key pioneers who started to document its avifauna. There is also a biogeographical analysis of the breeding species and the place of Libya in the Mediterranean and Palearctic–Afrotropical migration systems. The main habitats and locations are also described and illustrated. The effect of humans is also covered such as bird trapping and the shooting of migratory species.

The main interest is the checklist itself – covering just over 200 pages. Apart from vagrants, most species are allocated 100-200 words of text including a status code. Apart from a summary of breeding, wintering or passage status, a section on nesting data describes what evidence has been collated locally. For migrants there is a section suggesting their origin with details of ringing recoveries. The book is very well illustrated with colour photographs of birds and habitats. There are many tables in this book – such as lists of breeding species, those suspected of breeding, population estimates of colonial species, those that are extinct or declining. The authors have been rigorous in removing from the main checklist details of 11 species for which they consider sightings to be unlikely or unsupported by descriptions. There is also an extensive bibliography of over 500 references.

Sadly the situation in Libya remains tense following the Civil War in 2011 and intense fighting still continues in a number of areas. Tourists are currently advised against visiting as there remains a high threat of terrorist attacks and kidnapping. The British Embassy in Tripoli remains closed. One can only hope that the situation improves before too long; but once it does birders now have access to a great resource to help them.