Are you a bird lover? Are you interested in nature walk? Or you love photography? All these questions can be well answered when you take an African safari particularly Rwanda. Rwanda is an African country located in central Africa and like its counterpart Uganda it has no seaport. ,any travelers when you mention Rwanda their minds rush to mountain gorilla tracking, yes it is but the country is also blessed with very many bird life and we at www.gorillasafarisadventure.com we organize birding safari. Rwanda is one of the gifted countries in the world with a big percentage of birdlife counting to over 1032 species and many are endemic to only this country. A big number of these species are located in Rwanda’s national parks and along the shorelines; over 400 species of birds can be seen within a space of 2 weeks. The forest specialist that are found in the shoebill stock, gonolek, neumann’s, Rwenzori hill babbler, strange weaver, blue headed, purple throated a huge prehistoric- looking swamp dweller notable for its heavy clog-shaped bill including 16 endemics as well as migrant birds attracted by seasonal fluctuations in the water levels.
Akagera national park covers 1,200 km² in eastern Rwanda, along the Tanzanian border. This great National Park boosts of a rich bird Checklist of over 525 species, this reflects the extremely wide diversity of habitat. 44 species of raptor, Papyrus Gonolek, Shoebill Storkand a good number of Palearctic migrants, amongst which Lesser Kestrel, Great Snipe and Black-winged Red-faced Barbet, Bennett’s Woodpecker, Papyrus Gonolek, White-headed, Black and familiar Chats, Carruther’s and Tabora Cisticolas, White-winged and Broad-tailed Warblers and Miombo Wren-Warblers. have been recorded.
Nyungwe forest national park is a home to more than 300 species of birds, 27 of which are regional endemics. Much of the forest is unexplored, with access being extremely difficult, because of the steep high hills and deep valleys. However, an excellent winding tarmac road bisects the forest, following the crest of the mountains. This road is one of the few places in the world that allows the visitor to look directly into and even down on the rainforest canopy. Along this road you can find most of the Albertine Rift endemics, including Handsome Francolin, Rwenzori Turaco, Mountain Sooty Boubou, Rwenzori Batis, Yellow-eyed Black Flycatcher, Archer’s Robin-chat, Rwenzori Hill Babbler, Grauer’s Rush, Neumann’s and Grauer’s Warbles, Masked Mountain Apalis, Stripe-breasted Tit and Strange Weaver, and a full range of Rwenzori double-collared, purple-throated, blue-headed and regal Sunbirds.
Guides are readily available at the park headquarters and they can be hired at a cost of usd 50 to take you through the forests and their kin watchers, they can spot different species through their songs and since some of the spotting areas are tropical forest sometimes it’s hard to see some of the birds, so the bird songs you’ll hear during the trek will surely make it more enjoyable.
Birding has no time it depends on tourist time availability, it can be done early in the morning to catch up with morning birds, afternoon or in the evening and at each session you are assured of viewing various species of birds helped by guides who will be in position of giving you relative information on any flora and fauna meet on the way during birding. You are recommended to come with a good camera good at shooting.