Top Birding Place In Rwanda

When you think of an African safari to Rwanda, expect to see more than just mountain gorillas but also numerous exciting and inspiring birds. About 750 rare bird species are widely distributed in various parts of this stunning country making it one of the most ideal destinations for bird watching. With an area coverage of about 26338 square kilometers, this country features intense bird concentration per square kilometers in Africa. Each of the sites is composed of rare birds and they include among others;

Kigali city

For any plans to go on a birding tour in Rwanda, start your exploration in Kigali capital city which lies just at the entry point to this country via Kigali airport. While birding in this magical country, you will be left amazed by incredible birds. Around Lake Nyarutarama just at the border to the Kigali golf course, you will find distinct birds for you to sight at. You can also visit Nyabarongo wetland which equally offers walking trails and excellent birding encounters. While on a birding tour in Kigali expect to spot birds like brown-throated wattle eye, cardinal woodpecker, African grey hornbill a mention but a few.

Albertine eco-region

This region comprises mountain ranges that formed as a result of uplift and volcanic eruption. It expands to cover parts of western Rwanda and covers 5 countries. The Albertine region is a famous hub for the afro-montane inhabitants comprising of incredible fauna and flora with 40 bird species as well as a variety of wildlife species.

Volcanoes National Park

Suitably located in northwestern Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park is remarkably one of the most ideal tourist sites for birding. This park features five of the Virunga Mountain ranges that make up the eight chained mountains especially Karisimbi, Bisoke, Gahinga, Sabyinyo, and Muhabura. It offers refuge to about 200 bird species 17 of which are endemic to this area. The popular birds for you to sight at this park include red-billed fir finch, cinnamon chested bee-eater, Chubb’s Cisticola, dusky flycatcher a mention but a few.

Nyungwe Forest National Park

This forested protected area stands among a few tropical rainforest protected areas in Africa and boasts of about 310 avifaunal species. While on a birding tour in this park, you will sight at birds such as the Grauer’s swamp warbler, blue-headed sunbird, Albertine owlets, red collared babbler, yellow-eyed black flycatcher, archer’s robin chat, masked mountain Apalis, blue-headed and regal sunbirds, purple throated, Rockefeller’s sunbirds, Rwenzori hill babbler, stripe breasted tit, strange weaver, handsome francolin, Rwenzori Turaco a mention but a few. Besides, there is also an ideal forest track for bird watching in the Gisakura guesthouse and Rwanda Development Board Tourism and Conservation Campsite at Uwinka where you can spot out birds such as the red-throated alethe, collared Apalis, archer’s robin chat, Kivu ground thrush, Shelley’s and dusky crimson wing, white-bellied robin chat, Doherty’s and Lagden’s bush shrikes, white-tailed blue flycatcher, Great blue Turaco, white-bellied crested flycatcher, barred long-tailed cuckoo a mention but a few.

Akagera National Park

In the northeast, you will find Akagera National Park Rwanda’s only savanna grassland protected area which allows you to catch a glimpse at not only the big game but also numerous bird species. While on a birding tour in this park, you get a chance to spot out birds such as papyrus gonolek, papyrus canary, shoebill stork, white-headed black and familiar chats, Bennett’s woodpecker, red-faced barbet, white-winged and broad-tailed warblers, miombo wren warblers, Caruthers’s cisticola and many more. About 530 birds call this park their home and can be spotted while you are even on a game drive or boat cruise. The other best place for you to encounter incredible bird species in Rwanda includes the wetlands and marshes that make up ten percent of the country. They include Rugezi, Nyabarongo and Akanyaru.

Rugezi Swamp

Tucked away in a flooded valley near Gicumbi and the Ugandan border, the 100 sqkm Rugezi Swamp is, despite being recognized as both a Ramsar Wetland and Important Bird Area, very rarely visited by tourists, and the reed-and-papyrus marshes here are home to some 43 different bird species, including several endemic to the Albertine rift mountains, such as the endangered Grauer’s Swamp-warbler. Other threatened or vulnerable species resident here and endemic to the area include the Papyrus Gonolek and Papyrus Yellow Warbler. Most of the swamp is covered in vegetation, but there’s an unexpected and stunningly pretty area of open water at the south end of the marsh called Lake Nyagafunzo, which attracts a compelling variety of herons, pelicans, egrets, and cranes.

Akanyaru Wetlands

Covering 300 sqkm over a narrow, 80 km-long band along the course of the Akanyaru River, the Akanyaru Wetlands start off in the south straddling Rwanda – Burundi border and wind their way north to the village of Ntarama, where the sluggish Akanyaru joins the much larger Nyabarongo River. Though they’re probably less-visited than any other birding site in the country, the papyrus-dominated swamps here have been recognized as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International and are home to more than 54 species, including the vulnerable Papyrus Yellow Warbler and Papyrus Gonolek, along with examples of Great snipe, Pallid harrier, and the Malagasy pond heron.

Lake Kivu

With more than 150 km of jagged, winding coastline on its Rwandan side alone, Lake Kivu is far and away from the largest body of water in the country, and its many dozens of coves, cliffs, islands, islets, and beaches provide ample habitat for a wide variety of waterbirds. To see many of them, you won’t even have to leave the grounds of your hotel. Bring a pair of binoculars to any of the numerous lakeside lodges, and you’re likely to see any number of fish eagles, cormorants, pelicans, or kingfishers on the hunt, along with lovely examples of Double-toothed Barbet, Pin-tailed whydah, Malachite kingfisher, and the iconic Crested crane, all without ever leaving the comfort of your balcony, though we still, of course, recommend that you do!

At the Nyarutarama Lake near the Golf Course in Kigali one can spot the African Reed Warbler and Great Sedge Warbler, the Winding Cisticola as well as the Common Waxbill, Grey-backed Fiscal, Tropical Boubou, Red-rumped, and Mosque Swallows, African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Stork, Great White Pelican, Common Moorhens, Grosbeak Weaver, Grey Heron, Yellow-backed (Black-headed) Weavers, and the Pied Kingfisher.