Founded by John H. Elgood (died 1998—Marimbus Obituaries 21:74-75, 127–128) and Robert E. Sharland. Its purpose is to foster scientific interest in West African birds and to promote ornithology in the region, primarily through its journal Malimbus (formerly the Bulletin of the Nigerian Society of Ornithologists). The journal is biennial and bilingual, unique in Africa.
The NOS publication The Bulletin of the Nigerian Society of Ornithologists accepted papers on birds from other West African countries for a period of time until 17 September 1977 in Liverpool. The NOS Council, wishing to expand the Society's reach, invited the French Discuss this with an ornithologist (eg Claude Chappuis) and decide to "West Africanize" the society and cover the entire West African region. A notice was posted on Bull. NOS 13:85 (1977), and a request for a proposal for a new name for the Bulletin. John Elgood came up with the name Malimbus, a passerine genus almost endemic to West Africa, which was eventually chosen as the title of his journal. The first issue of the new journal in 1979 aptly began with a paper reviewing the genus Malimbe and describing what was then considered a new species of Gola Malimbe.
