African Safari

Birds of Rwanda – Birds in Rwanda

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.