Rwanda birds
Rwanda is one of the famous countries which is a must visit destination for bird lovers, the country hosts over 700 recorded bird species found in its national parks. With a number of bird species living throughout the city and all the national parks, you will never get bored or run shortage of birds to spot around the different parks. Also, in Rwanda, the shoebill is only seen in Akagera National Park, the shoe bill is still one bird on the list of birds to be seen from Instore. Rwanda has no endemics, except in the region, but there are other relatively close-endemics that can be observed in Rwanda and its neighboring countries. Of particular interest are the 27 endangered Albertine Rift that can be located in and around Nyungwe Forest National Park in the high-altitude rainforest region.
Rwanda’s Near-endemic that can also be spotted in other neighboring countries to Rwanda.
Congo bay owl
Albertine Owlet
Schouteden’s Swift
Red-collared babbler
Rockefeller’s Sunbird
Other bird species spotted in Rwanda best for birders visiting the Country for bird watching safaris.
Yellow-eyed black flycatcher
Yellow-bellied eremomela
White-winged swamp warbler
White-collared olive back,
Tabora cisticola
Striped pipit
Stripe- breasted tit
Strange Weaver
Souza’s shrike
Slate-colored boubou
Short tailed pipit
Shoebill
Shelley’s crimsonwing
Ruwenzori turaco
Ruwenzori batis
Ruwenzori apalis
Ring-necked francolin
Regal sunbird
Red-winged francolin
Red-faced barbet
Red-colored babbler
Purple breasted Sunbird
Papyrus yellow Warbler
Papyrus Canary
Papyrus gonolek
Mountain masked apalis
Northern brown-throated weaver
Kivu ground thrush
Handsome francolin
Grauer’s swamp warbler
Grasshopper buzzard
Eleonora’s falcon
Dwarf honeyguide
Dusky crimsonwing
Dimorphic egret
Cabanis’s bunting
Carruthers’s cisticola
Buff-throated apalis
Brown-chested lapwing
Blue-headed sunbird
Blue-shouldered robin-chat
Beaudoin’s snake eagle
Blue -headed sunbird
Archer’s robin-chat
Best time for Rwanda birding safari
From the point of view of bird life, Rwanda is a great tourism destination for birding safari throughout the year. Particularly because the biggest attraction here is the resident birds. Most of the unique birds of Rwanda can be seen in the Nyungwe Forest, the birding is better here from January to June because most birds are noisy at the moment. Nonetheless, April is extremely wet since there is heavy rain fall received in that tourism operations can be difficult. The months of the dry season are from June to September when the trails are dry with little or no rainfall received at all and easier as it’s drier hiking roads and less challenging to climb. This is also the best time to go mountain gorilla trekking since it involves hiking steep slopes in search for the habituated gorilla families. Migratory birds are seen mostly in November to May this is the best time for wildlife viewing when the parks are filled with number of bird species.
Top parks to visit for birding safari in Rwanda
There are several sites from which tourists can visit for birding in Rwanda, number of the birds found in Rwanda, are spotted in Nyungwe Forest and Kagera NP. Nyungwe Forest has several endemics from the Albertine Rift and unique areas, rendering it a birdwatching hub. The large lakes of Akagera are the go-to for general savannah animals, such as raptors and water-related birds.