Priority Sound Recording Species in Africa

Although ALL species are valuable to have more recordings of, this list is of birds that are very close to being ready to start training Merlin Sound ID to identify. These species have more than 50 recordings already, and are common in several regions in Africa. With a bit of effort, together we can get each of these species over 100 total recordings, to be ready for Merlin to start learning!

These Priority Species are a focus for the Big Year of African Sounds, and recording 25 of these species each quarter of the year will qualify you for the Priority 25 Challenge, which could win you new recording gear!

Priority Species for Sound Recording in Africa

List updated: 5 Dec 2025
Names use global English; clicking on a linked species name will display it in your personal language settings.

Crested Francolin
Erckel’s Spurfowl
Natal Spurfowl
Speckled Pigeon
African Collared-Dove
Mourning Collared-Dove
Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove
Tambourine Dove
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
Great Blue Turaco
Gray Go-away-bird
Purple-crested Turaco
Yellow-billed Turaco
Senegal Coucal
White-browed Coucal
Dideric Cuckoo
Klaas’s Cuckoo
Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo
Montane Nightjar
Freckled Nightjar
Red-chested Flufftail
Black Crake
Blacksmith Lapwing
Tibetan Sand-Plover
Marsh Sandpiper
Temminck’s Stint
Gray-hooded Gull
White Stork
European Honey-buzzard
Short-toed Snake-Eagle
Crowned Eagle
African Goshawk
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Speckled Mousebird
Blue-naped Mousebird
Green Woodhoopoe
African Gray Hornbill
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Blue-breasted Kingfisher
European Roller
Crested Barbet
Red-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-throated Tinkerbird
Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird
Black-collared Barbet
Lesser Honeyguide
Lesser Kestrel
Gray Parrot
African Broadbill
Western Black-headed Oriole
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Chinspot Batis
Brubru
Yellow-crowned Gonolek
Black-headed Gonolek
Four-colored Bushshrike
Doherty’s Bushshrike
Olive Bushshrike
Gray-headed Bushshrike
Black-headed Paradise-Flycatcher
Isabelline Shrike
Southern Fiscal
Pied Crow
Greater Hoopoe-Lark
Sabota Lark
Fawn-colored Lark
Eastern Nicator
Green Crombec
Red-faced Crombec
Long-billed Crombec
Gray Longbill
Olive-green Camaroptera
Bar-throated Apalis
Yellow-breasted Apalis
Gray Apalis
Karoo Prinia
Black-faced Rufous-Warbler
Singing Cisticola
Whistling Cisticola
Chubb’s Cisticola
Winding Cisticola
Levaillant’s Cisticola
Piping Cisticola
Olive-tree Warbler
Lesser Swamp Warbler
Evergreen-forest Warbler
Little Rush Warbler
Red-tailed Bristlebill
Yellow-bellied Greenbul
Honeyguide Greenbul
Red-tailed Greenbul
Terrestrial Brownbul
Cabanis’s Greenbul
Eastern Bonelli’s Warbler
Brown Woodland-Warbler
Scrub Warbler
African Hill Babbler
Chestnut-vented Warbler
Rüppell’s Warbler
Cape White-eye
Brown Illadopsis
Scaly-breasted Illadopsis
Arrow-marked Babbler
Red-winged Starling
Tristram’s Starling
Black-bellied Starling
Long-tailed Glossy Starling
Splendid Starling
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Rufous Flycatcher-Thrush
Orange Ground-Thrush
Kurrichane Thrush
Abyssinian Thrush
African Thrush
African Dusky Flycatcher
Bearded Scrub-Robin
White-throated Robin-Chat
Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat
Spotted Morning-Thrush
Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush
Siberian Stonechat
Isabelline Wheatear
Desert Wheatear
Eastern Black-eared Wheatear
Bronze Sunbird
Malachite Sunbird
Olive-bellied Sunbird
Southern Double-collared Sunbird
Northern Double-collared Sunbird
Purple-banded Sunbird
White-bellied Sunbird
Southern Masked-Weaver
Black-headed Weaver
Northern Red Bishop
Bronze Mannikin
African Silverbill
Orange-cheeked Waxbill
Village Indigobird
Cape Sparrow
Southern Gray-headed Sparrow
Cape Wagtail
African Pied Wagtail
Long-billed Pipit
Streaky Seedeater
Cape Canary
Golden-breasted Bunting
Cape Bunting
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Striolated Bunting