Even the staid scientist are dazzled by the brilliance of one particular native to the Kenyan birds scene, and called it ‘the superb starling’ in recognition of its superlative appearance. Today most visitors will see superb starlings (except at the coast) in lodge, and hotel gardens, bush and savannah, and the Nairobi city centre. Some books even list “car parks” as one of the starlings preferred habitats.
As for the number of bird species on offer and the ease with which you can view them, Kenya ranks as one of the best birds watching venues in the world. Some 1,088 bird species have been recorded, nearly 12% of the world’s total, many of which are strikingly beautiful and big.
This fact coupled with a good infrastructure of roads and hotels, plus a range of excellent birding guides-books and trained naturalists makes bird watching indeed rewarding and within the reach of all.
SOME BIRDS TO LOOK FOR.
The world’s biggest Bird – the Ostrich, lives here.
Look for small groups of ostriches in open country, grassland, savannah, or thorn bush, often near large mammals. The common ostrich is found Norther Kenya and has pink skin on the neck and legs, while the Somali ostrich of the dryer north has blue skin.
The Marabou Storks.
This species of bird may be seen in snatching scraps from the lion’s kill, hanging out in the city centre, or soaring on mighty wings high above the plains. These big birds with their bare pink heads and necks are mainly scavengers, eating dead food, and have benefited much from the ever-increasing human settlements.
The Alkaline lakes of the Great Rift valley may seem to be edged by pink sand, but actually what you are seeing is a living mass of Pink birds – Th Flamingos. They feed on blue-green algae in the shallow, mineral-rich waters. Lesser flamingos are the most abundant and can be recognized by their dark beaks. Tall graceful greater flamingos have pink beaks with black tip.
To the British explorers of the 1800s, a large bird of prey striding purposefully over the grasslands looked just like a lawyer’s clerk of that time – grey jacket, black leggings and a quill pen stuck over its ear. So, they called it the secretary bird, and the name has stuck. Secretary birds hunt for rats, mice, lizards, snakes, and other prey in the grass.
Mouse Birds.
These birds scramble through the bushes just like little mammals; the unusual structure of their toes enabling them to hang from a branch and scratch their toes at the same time. Mouse birds are fairly small brown birds with long stiff tails and stiff crests, found only in Africa.
Oxpeckers.
Also called tickbird, it can often be seen on wild mammals, from elephant to Impala. They search the animal’s fur for ticks and other parasites. (The white cattle egrets that also associate with mammals may rest on an animal’s back, but they eat insects on the ground disturbed by the walking heard).
As for the tiny birds in shiny, iridescent colours that you will see flitting amongst the flowers, these are the Sunbirds. Their thin curved beaks probe into blossoms to suck out the nectar, or catch minute insects. Most male sunbirds are brilliantly colored, while the females are drab in appearance.
Bird’s nests hanging from the trees or nestled among acacia thorns are usually the works of the weaver birds. There are many different types of weavers, each with their unique building style. At the coast look for Golden weavers in noisy nesting colonies on islands and in garden pools.
Here is a book list that you can either use to select books to bring along with you or which you can purchase at any book’s selection store.
A photographic guide to the birds of East Africa. By Dave Richards.
Jonathan Scott’s Safari Guide to East African Birds. By Jonathan and Angela Scott, KENSTA, Nairobi, 1997.
Beautiful birds of Kenya. By John Karmali, Text Book Centre, Nairobi, 1993.
Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. By D.A Zimmerman, D.A Turner and D.J Pearson 1996 (hardback) and 1999 (reduced size), A. & C Black London.
Collins Illustrated Checklist: Birds of Eastern Africa. By Ber Van Perlo, 1995, HarperCollins.
Field Guide to the birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. By Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe, 2001, T &AD Poyser.
