Birds of Tanzania

Zanzibar Red Bishop, Mikumi National Park

Red-and-Yellow Barbet, Tarangire National Park

Why you opt for bird watching in Tanzania?

Tanzania is a top safari destination and, in our opinion, it’s the gem of Africa. Tanzania is a land blessed with an abundance of wildlife, panoramic vistas and some of the most kind, hospitable and gracious people in all of Africa. It remains untouched by time and is still as wild, rugged and untamed as ever. Tanzania abounds with natural beauty Over 35% of its land is allocated to national parks and game and forest reserves. It is also home to the highest point in Africa – Mount Kilimanjaro – which measures in at 5895 meters or 19,341 feet. Tanzania is also a politically stable, safe country in which to travel. The proximity of so many stunning parks and conservation areas only adds to Tanzania's appeal as a safari destination. Several parks and conservation areas can be visited in a few days, allowing visitors to take in a wide range of Tanzania's landscapes and scenery in a relatively short period of time. Tanzania is home to Serengeti National Park The most popular Tanzania safari destination is the Serengeti. Here tourists can witness the awe of the annual herbivore migration, which includes nearly two million wildebeest and thousands of antelope and zebra. The Serengeti is roughly ten times larger than Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve, yet it receives a much lower number of tourists each year, per square kilometer/mile. There is truly the opportunity to get off the beaten path in Tanzania, especially in the Serengeti, and to experience the vast beauty of the African wilderness without being surrounded by hordes of tourists. Tanzania is the ideal African safari location If you’ve been enchanted by safari documentaries on television you will be utterly speechless when you become part of your African surroundings. Words cannot describe the initial sensation of being out on safari, enveloped by endless expanses of African savannah, or in spotting your first leopard, lounging lazily in a sausage tree. A visit to Tanzania and its wilderness is truly a step back in time. As soon as you land at one of the small dirt airstrip in the Serengeti, you feel utterly removed from the modern, bustling world. There are no restaurants trying to capitalize on your visit, and no buildings to block your view of your gorgeous surroundings. In fact, the biggest possible impediment to a quick descent into Serengeti is the odd giraffe or impala grazing on the airstrip, necessitating a chase from the local ground crew.

Bird watching safari in Tanzania

Tanzania is a top bird watching destination. It offers ample opportunity to view a wide variety of birds – from migratory to resident birds. In Tanzania there are birds literally everywhere, from the icy barrens around Kilimanjaro’s snowy summit to the sun-baked soda shores of its many lakes. From the coral reefs and inlets in the blue Indian Ocean to the hippo pools at Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. Tanzania's birdlife is vast, abundant and thriving. Birds are probably the most conspicuous, lively and widely distributed of all animals. Your guide will help you to identify the various bird species and provide interesting information on their habits. This itinerary suggestion is for the avid bird watchers out there – the ones who know their endemic from migratory and who are interested in more than seeing just the big five. You know who you are… Day 1: Transfer from the airport to Arusha for a good night’s sleep. Day 2: After breakfast you will drive to Tarangire National Park. We’ll do a short drive before going to your camp for lunch and some afternoon relaxation. In the late afternoon, we’ll head out for an evening bird drive. This is also an excellent opportunity to see the nocturnal animals. Day 3: Tarangire National Park. Today will be spent in Tarangire, where many varieties of birds can be found. Day 4: After an early morning drive in Tarangire, we’ll head to Lake Manyara National Park. We’ll drive to the rift escarpment base where your lodge is located. In the afternoon we’ll head into the park and through the underground water forest. There are literally hundreds of species of birds here, with a high number of water birds. Don’t forget your camera today! Day 5: We’ll do an early morning drive in Lake Manyara and after lunch will head to Lake Eyasi. We’ll enjoy sunset overlooking Lake Eyasi. Day 6: This morning you’ll do an early morning walk with Bushmen. The walk will take you through some gorgeous scenery and offer some bird watching opportunities. During mid day we’ll relaxing by the pool and compile the list of birds seen and those remaining. We’ll then head out in the late afternoon / early evening and drive through the palm tree forests for more bird watching. Day 7: Today we drive to the Ngorongoro highlands, where you’ll see lots of alpine species. The mountain buzzard is endemic to this region. You’ll arrive at your lodge in time for lunch, where you can enjoy views over the Crater rim. In the afternoon we’ll do some small walks along the rim, and try to spot some eagles. Sunset is the time for sundowners while gazing over the Crater rim. Day 8: Today is a very early start so we can head down into the Crater floor. In addition to ample birdlife, the Crater is home to all of the big five and is an excellent game viewing opportunity. Day 9: We’ll drive to the majestic Serengeti today and follow the wildebeest migration. In December through March, when the migration is in the south, we can head through the acacia woods and into the open plains, where we can spot vultures, eagles and other large birds. Day 10: We’ll spend the day in the Serengeti, following the migrating herbivores while incorporating some bird watching. Day 11: We’ll do a very early morning game drive before heading to the airstrip for your domestic flight back to Arusha. You’ll be met at the Arusha airport and taken to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your return flight.

GOOD EVENING AFRICA, GOOD EVENING THE WORLD!

Ruaha National Park, Iringa.

WAHARIRI,WAANDISHI WAANDAMIZI WA HABARI WATEMBELEA HIFADHI YA RUAHA

Wahariri wa vyombo vya habari mbalimbali wakiwa Ruaha National Park

Twiga

Tembo

Simba wakipumzika

Mto Ruaha

The World’s Rarest Birds: an interview with author and birder Erik Hirschfeld

The World’s Rarest Birds is a sumptuous visual treat for birders, featuring a gallery of competition-winning bird photos from around the world. But it is more than that: Erik Hirschfeld – and collaborators Andy Swash and Rob Still – want everyone to be engaged with the plight of the rarest bird species. Here’s what he has to say about the book:

The World’s Rarest Birds compiles information from many different sources and represents a great conservation collaboration. What were your aims in writing the book?

I wanted to give the term “bird conservation” a more recognizable face. In order to evoke feelings, funds, and engagement for a cause, it is essential to make the cause recognizable. By presenting each one of the world’s rarest species in text and image, and sorting them in a geographical context, there is a bird for everyone: regardless of where you live, it should be easy to find the birds in your vicinity. I work much with beginners to birding, as a guide and lecturer, and the taxonomic order does not make sense to them. I think it is important to convince these newcomers about the conservation needs. It does not matter if you are a beginner or expert, Swede or Polynesian – there is a bird in the book that everyone can feel for in conservation terms. And that was my aim, as I think it is extremely important to spread knowledge about endangered birds.

Could you tell us a little about how you became a fully fledged conservation author?

My professional career is in an unrelated sector but I am basically a birder, and was heavily involved on the Swedish twitching scene in my early birding years. Over time my interest in birds has widened – I hardly keep lists any more, and I appreciate the birds’ context in nature more, as well as my own personal experiences of them. I am right now enjoying watching Rooks doing clever things on my street more than twitching a Yellow-nosed Albatross at my local patch (although I did twitch it…). I have always written: identification papers in the eighties, in British journals, and much about migration and faunistics. With the maturing of my interest it was quite obvious I should do something on conservation. I have been a staunch supporter of BirdLife International for 20 years, and am very happy that I could make them benefit from this book. It is important to remember though that the book is a team effort by Andy Swash, Rob Still and myself.

There are some beautiful and striking images in the book, which we loved. Do you feel that the images are an essential way of engaging people with the species?

Yes, as I touched on in the first question. It is a matter of applying simple marketing principles from commercial contexts also in conservation and the NGO world, to make people aware of the birds. You know the old saying: a picture means more than a thousand words.

Some of the image contributions were from winners of an international photographic competition – did you get a good response?

Absolutely, I had tried it out with the Rare Birds Yearbooks so we knew it was going to be a success. The timing has also been good. With the digital photography boom, many people can take decent pictures, and you see much more camera equipment in the field now than 30 years ago when you had to wait a couple of weeks to get your films back. And we are very grateful to the photographers who submitted their images.

The World’s Rarest Birds is quite different in format and content from your previous series The Rare Birds Yearbook, did you also have a different audience in mind?

No, actually not, I thought that basically the same people would buy them. Andy Swash and Rob Still have been instrumental in the evolution to The World’s Rarest Birds and I was convinced by them from the beginning this was the way to go. I remember Ade Long at BirdLife suggesting already after the first edition of the Rare Birds Yearbooks that I should go more for photos and less for texts.

The purchase of this book contributes towards supporting the BirdLife International Preventing Extinctions Programme which is a fantastic cause. Could you tell us about any notable conservation success stories that you have seen since your involvement with the project started?

Several. The Madagascar Pochard project in which the species population recently has quadrupled. The Spoon-billed Sandpiper project with artificial hatching and building up a captive population. The project that established a breeding centre for Spix’s Macaw, and now will release birds into the wild this summer. The banning of diclofenac in the Indian subcontinent which, slowly, helps vultures. Even if they are not saved yet, it is not all gloomy! And the many dedicated people and organizations behind these and other positive trends are success stories in themselves.

Birding in Tanzania - first impressions

Blue-spotted Wood Dove

As I've previously mentioned our house is high (150 m) above Lake Victoria and the business centre of Bukoba.  While the house itself has no garden to speak of we are surrounded on three sides by lush gardens with bananas, plantains, avocados, papaya, mango and assorted vegetable crops.  The front of the house looks over a large grassy paddock used for drying clothes and grazing a small cattle herd.  This combination attracts lots of birds and I've been keeping a daily log for the Tanzanian Atlas of birds seen within 500 m of the house.

Interestingly we have quite a few small eucalyptus groves nearby and there are Silky Oaks (Grevillea robusta) from Queensland and radiata pines scattered around.  Lots of trees I can't put names to of course.

Bronze Mannikin