Birds in Mali

Birds in Mali

The Birds are very beautiful here in Mali. Many are vibrant in color and have exotic characteristics. My photographs can only hint at the diversity of these creatures. Indeed, I have seen many birds with amazing colors and features that have been too elusive for me to capture with my camera. Some of them have sounded like monkeys from a distance; some made me pause in astonishment. I was developing a love for bird photography just before I came to Mali, so I will continue this hobby with some of my free time. My hope is to share with everyone back home the beauty of Malian birds. An understanding of Malian birds and their behavior will help me to understand the ecosystems in which I will be working, for example, birds help us identify the edible parts of plants, such as seeds. As well as identifying where insects might be hiding, or whether or not fish live in the water. Biodiversity is an important conservation effort here in Mali. The biodiversity of birds will help us measure the increase or decrease in natural resource efficiency.

The pictures I have displayed below were all taken within a hundred miles of Bamako. In my short site visit to Gossi, I was pleased to see many species of birds in what is definitely a desert environment, including at least one type of desert hawk, one type of water fowl (it’s the rainy season and Gossi has a big lake), one type of sandpiper, a second unidentifiable souring bird, and many smaller birds. I imagine that most of these birds will leave in the dry season. The local Toureg people have informed me that there are also Eagles around Gossi, as well as some other interesting birds I have to yet to laid eyes on. Most of the birds that I will discover and share with you will be localized around Gossi, since this my site. Unfortunately, I have not discovered any Bird Guides specific to Mali. The Peace Corps County Director told me that there are only bird guides specific to West Africa, and book stores are pretty much non-existent here in Mali – yeah no book stores!!! So if anyone discovers a Malian Bird Guide (Most likely in French), or any information about Malian birds online, please share the information with me… alden.jared@gmail.com Any information you can provide could help me in field work and this would be very much appreciated. Look forward to seeing more pictures of Malian Birds…