A checklist of birds of Anwase forest

The birding trips were to forest patches around Anwase village of Kwande Local Government Area in Benue State. No previous bird watching had been carried out in these forests. Our study of the geography of the place tells us that the portion of the Guinea forest which lies to the north of the largely montane upland extending from the Sankwala Mountains in Cross River State via the Obudu Plateau and the Bamenda Highlands in Cameroon to the Mambila Plateau in Taraba State is isolated from the main body of that forest to the south. The birding trips were undertaken between the 29th of December 2019 and 17th February 2023. On these trips, forest birds were observed including Chestnut-winged Starling Onichognathus fulgidus which is well known from the main forest belt in Nigeria but seen for the first time in these forests. A black paradise flycatcher which was similar to the enigmatic bird described by Yakhat Barshep in the African Bird Club Bulletin of 2020 was also seen. On this trip it was discovered that the forest still remaining in the area is fragmentary and under severe threat. It has exceptional ornithological importance with high probability of discovering new species and subspecies. This checklist contains 153 bird species recorded in these forest patches.