“A pre-tour message from our ground agents had warned us
that Kenya was very dry this year – the November rains having essentially
failed – and that we might struggle to find some of the birds. On arrival in Nairobi this fact was backed
up by our local guides Edwin and Zac and indeed by our first excursion of the
tour into Nairobi National Park large expanses of which were essentially dry,
grey grasslands fairly devoid of birds.
Fortunately, Kenya is such a rich, diverse country that there are always
some green patches along the rivers and around the lakes and many birds could
be found taking shelter there. And
other areas that are always dry in any case, such as along the road to Lake Magadi
and around Lake Baringo seemed much as normal.
The drought did mean that the males of certain birds such as
widowbirds, whydahs and bishops were not in breeding plumage and identifying
the females and out-of-plumage males is always a major challenge. It was quite remarkable for example that we
didn’t see a male Pin-tailed Whydah in breeding plumage until the penultimate
day of our three-week tour. This is
normally a common bird seen on many days each tour.
Most birds could still be found in the expected areas however and within just a few days of the tour starting we had already identified hundreds of species. With such a rich avian selection, people’s personal favourites varied considerably and it’s hard to choose which species to mention as highlights. Using local ‘rarity’ combined with aesthetics the following readily spring to mind; the pair of Buff-spotted Flufftails at Mountain Lodge – though they were hard to see and called for considerable concentration, the superb male Long-tailed Widowbirds – still in breeding plumage fortunately, the Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbirds high on the Aberdares – and in such a scenic setting, the white-throated ‘vittata’ race of Pied Wheatear – for which there are very few winter records in existence, the beautiful Papyrus Gonolek in the vast papyrus beds of Lake Victoria – that circled around us giving brilliant views, the graceful white-morph Paradise Flycatchers – seen several times during the tour, the massive Great Blue Turacos in the garden at Rondo Retreat, and the Karamoja Apalis – only recently added to the Kenya list.
There were many highlights on the extension to the coast
too; Golden Pipits fluttering up around us as we drove though the dry plains of
Tsavo, the Four-coloured Bush-Shrike that finally gave itself up and showed off
to everyone in the group, the secretive Fischer’s Turacos that David Ngala was
convinced were still present in that bush and which finally revealed
themselves, unique Crab Plovers scattered across Mida Creek, the vast flock of
‘umbrella-ing’ Black Herons at Lake Jipe, and the array of waterbirds at Lake
Jipe in general – far more than during any of our visits over the last couple
of decades.
Then there were the mammals. We did well for Lions this year, though the sight of one group
killing a buffalo was perhaps a little too ‘real’ for many of us. We saw Cheetah well and had a great
encounter with a Serval – though that may not have been quite sufficient
compensation for the lack of a Leopard.
On our nightdrive Aardvark was a real bonus and something we have not seen
for at least a decade on our January tours.
Similarly we were lucky to see both Golden Jackal on the Solio Plains
and Side-striped Jackal at Salt Lick Lodge – three jackals in one trip is
something we have possibly never achieved before. And all the plains mammals in the Mara made an amazing backdrop
to our birding there – not to mention the elephants and buffalos at point-blank
range at Salt Lick Lodge.
A safari around Kenya really is one of the best wildlife
experiences on the planet – wonderful scenery, great accommodation and food, a
greater diversity of readily visible mammal and bird species than anywhere
else, and generally very pleasant weather.
Combine that with a good group of very compatible birders and how could
you have a better birding holiday?”
David Fisher.
Bird List:
During the last 21 years Sunbird has operated over 50 tours
to Kenya, during which more than 900 species of bird have been recorded. However, this list only contains the 863
species recorded during the last eight January tours. Prior to the English name of each species a number from 1 to 8 is
given. This indicates on how many of
those eight trips the species has been recorded. Thus an 8 indicates that we've never missed it and you can assume
we have a very good chance of seeing it on the next tour, while a 1 indicates
we've only recorded it once in the last eight years and our chances next trip
are fairly slim. An 8 doesn't
necessarily mean it is a common bird of course - it might be a major rarity
that we've made an extra special effort to find each year - Magpie Shrike for
example.
The columns of numbers and letters between the English and
the scientific names refer to our last tour (2006) and the key to those numbers
and letters is given below. This is the
place to look to determine the status of each species. A bird seen on 21 days is clearly widespread
and almost certainly common, while one seen on only 1 or 2 days is either very
local, rare, or possibly both. No
numbers or letters between the English and scientific names mean that the
species was not recorded during our last tour.
The order, English and scientific names used in this list
generally follow those used in Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by
Zimmerman et al which is our recommended field guide for the tour. A few species have been split or lumped by
other authorities since that booked was published and these have been
incorporated into the list.
Key to numbers and letters between the English and
scientific names:
Column 1 = number of days recorded
Column 2 = greatest daily count
H = heard only
(H) = species was seen, but most birds only heard
N = nesting evident
E = recorded during extension week only
(I) = introduced
|
8 |
Common Ostrich |
4 |
66 |
N |
|
Struthio camelus |
|
2 |
Somali Ostrich |
|
|
|
|
Struthio molybdophanes |
|
1 |
Great Crested Grebe |
|
|
|
|
Podiceps cristatus |
|
2 |
Black-necked Grebe |
|
|
|
|
Podiceps nigricollis |
|
8 |
Little Grebe |
5 |
20 |
|
|
Tachybaptus ruficollis |
|
8 |
Great White Pelican |
3 |
'000s |
|
|
Pelecanus onocrotalus |
|
8 |
Pink-backed Pelican |
3 |
5 |
|
|
Pelecanus rufescens |
|
8 |
Great Cormorant |
3 |
50 |
|
|
Phalacrocorax carbo |
|
8 |
Long-tailed Cormorant |
7 |
50 |
|
|
Phalacrocorax africanus |
|
7 |
African Darter |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Anhinga rufa |
|
1 |
Dwarf Bittern |
|
|
|
|
Ixobrychus sturmii |
|
5 |
Little Bittern |
|
|
|
|
Ixobrychus minutus |
|
3 |
Black-crowned Night-Heron |
|
|
|
|
Nycticorax nycticorax |
|
8 |
Cattle Egret |
19 |
'00s |
|
|
Bubulcus ibis |
|
8 |
Little Egret |
6 |
50 |
|
|
Egretta garzetta |
|
4 |
Dimorphic Egret |
|
|
|
|
Egretta dimorpha |
|
5 |
Western Reef Heron |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Egretta gularis |
|
7 |
Black Heron |
2 |
150 |
|
|
Egretta ardesiaca |
|
8 |
Squacco Heron |
5 |
50 |
|
|
Ardeola ralloides |
|
8 |
Rufous-bellied Heron |
2 |
6 |
|
|
Ardeola rufiventris |
|
8 |
Striated Heron |
3 |
2 |
|
|
Butorides striatus |
|
8 |
Yellow-billed (Intermediate) Egret |
4 |
1 |
|
|
Mesophoyx intermedia |
|
8 |
Great Egret |
8 |
10 |
|
|
Casmerodius albus |
|
8 |
Grey Heron |
10 |
20 |
|
|
Ardea cinerea |
|
8 |
Purple Heron |
3 |
2 |
|
|
Ardea purpurea |
|
8 |
Goliath Heron |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Ardea goliath |
|
8 |
Black-headed Heron |
13 |
6 |
|
|
Ardea melanocephala |
|
8 |
Hamerkop |
12 |
100 |
|
|
Scopus umbretta |
|
8 |
White Stork |
4 |
50 |
|
|
Ciconia ciconia |
|
6 |
Black Stork |
4 |
2 |
|
|
Ciconia nigra |
|
8 |
Abdim's Stork |
1 |
10 |
|
|
Ciconia abdimii |
|
7 |
Woolly-necked Stork |
2 |
2 |
|
E |
Ciconia episcopus |
|
7 |
Saddle-billed Stork |
1 |
2 |
|
|
Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis |
|
8 |
Marabou Stork |
16 |
'00s |
N |
|
Leptoptilus crumeniferus |
|
8 |
African Open-billed Stork |
2 |
20 |
|
|
Anastomus lamelligerus |
|
8 |
Yellow-billed Stork |
13 |
20 |
|
|
Mycteria ibis |
|
8 |
Sacred Ibis |
17 |
200 |
N |
|
Threskiornis aethiopicus |
|
8 |
Hadada Ibis |
18 |
12 |
|
|
Bostrychia hagedash |
|
2 |
African Green Ibis |
|
|
|
|
Bostrychia olivacea |
|
8 |
Glossy Ibis |
4 |
50 |
|
|
Plegadis falcinellus |
|
8 |
African Spoonbill |
6 |
12 |
|
|
Platalea alba |
|
8 |
Greater Flamingo |
4 |
'000s |
|
|
Phoenicopterus ruber |
|
8 |
Lesser Flamingo |
4 |
'00,000s |
|
|
Phoenicopterus minor |
|
6 |
Fulvous Whistling Duck |
3 |
'00s |
|
|
Dendrocygna bicolor |
|
8 |
White-faced Whistling Duck |
2 |
10 |
|
E |
Dendrocygna viduata |
|
8 |
White-backed Duck |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Thalassornis leuconotus |
|
8 |
Spur-winged Goose |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Plectopterus gambensis |
|
8 |
Egyptian Goose |
14 |
100 |
N |
|
Alopochen aegyptiacus |
|
7 |
Knob-billed Duck (Goose) |
2 |
18 |
|
|
Sarkidiornis melanotos |
|
6 |
African Pygmy Goose |
|
|
|
|
Nettapus auritus |
|
7 |
African Black Duck |
1 |
1 |
|
|
Anas sparsa |
|
8 |
Cape Teal (Wigeon) |
2 |
8 |
|
|
Anas capensis |
|
3 |
Common Teal |
|
|
|
|
Anas crecca |
|
8 |
Garganey |
1 |
1 |
|
E |
Anas querquedula |
|
8 |
Yellow-billed Duck |
3 |
50 |
|
|
Anas undulta |
|
7 |
Northern Pintail |
2 |
2 |
|
|
Anas acuta |
|
8 |
Red-billed Teal |
4 |
40 |
|
|
Anas erythrorhyncha |
|
8 |
Hottentot Teal |
4 |
20 |
|
|
Anas hottentota |
|
8 |
Northern Shoveler |
7 |
'00s |
|
|
Anas clypeata |
|
8 |
Southern Pochard |
3 |
9 |
|
|
Netta erythrophthalma |
|
8 |
Maccoa Duck |
2 |
20 |
|
|
Oxyura maccoa |
|
8 |
Secretary Bird |
6 |
8 |
|
|
Sagittarius serpentarius |
|
6 |
Osprey |
1 |
1 |
|
E |
Pandion haliaetus |
|
2 |
African Cuckoo-Hawk |
|
|
|
|