Birds of Tsavo national park
Birds of Tsavo national park
Birds of Tsavo national park: Tsavo national park is the largest protected area in Kenya covering 22,812 square kilometres. The largest size of the park dominated by different vegetation covers that creates the different habitats of birds. The park vegetation ranges from the open savannah grassland to the roughed mountainous vegetation. Birds of Tsavo national park are mostly found in thicket vegetation. The park is made up of two national parks which were divided by the highway that runs from the interior of Kenya to the coastal region. Tsavo national park is consist of Tsavo East national park and Tsavo West national park. The A109 highway passes through the middle of the park connecting the park to both the coastal area and the Interior of the country.
Tsavo West national park is more rocky and wetter than Tsavo East national park. Tsavo national park is characterised by the rocky bushes, scrubland, open savannah grassland, Acacia woodlands, riverine vegetation, forests and others. Each of the vegetation habits specific bird species in the park hence experienced birders using the available vegetation details can know which species of bird is found in which kind of vegetation.
The presence of birds of Tsavo national park contributes to an added tourist attraction at the park. Some travellers especially birders come to Africa to see some bird specials only. This makes their trip more memorable after seeing them. The birds in the two parks that make up Tsavo National park are almost the same though Tsavo East has more bird species than Tsavo West. The dominance of the Galana River in Tsavo East makes it to host more migratory birds as well as water or aquatic birds.
Birds of Tsavo national park are mostly permanent residents though the park also receives some migratory birds in some season of the year. Tsavo national park hosts over 500 bird species. The location of the park in the former semi-desert area of Taru desert highly contributes to the large space for the peaceful stay of the birds. The park is not under the pressure of the local encroachers hence making it ideal for the birds. The high population of bird species at the park is also attributed to the near location of the park to the coastal area. This has made the park as a breeding destination for the birds that leave around the coast. Most birds especially aquatic birds come up to the shores of the coast for breeding hence making an added advantage to park.
The other factor to consider in allied with the location is a migratory route for most European birds that come to Africa to escape from their winter season. As they proceed to the coast they always break their flight at the park spending some time. Some of the migratory birds include Collared Sand Martin, Barn Swallows, European Bee-eater, Common Swift, White Stork, Common Cuckoo, Egyptian Vulture among others. These birds fly long distances crossing seas as they follow the climate patterns of the world. The great birders have deeply researched the movement of these birds making them make an itinerary of different destinations in the world for birding. Our team of experts have also come up with great itineraries of birding across East African in relation to migratory birds as well as permanent residents.
Birds of Tsavo national park are the second famous attraction in Tsavo national park that attracts more guests to the park after wildlife safaris. Birding can be done concurrently with game viewing if the driver guide is a birder to because not every driver guide is a birder. This is one of our key strength compared to may local tour operators. The long list of Birds of Tsavo national park can be achieved with patient long safaris that gives you ample time to walk slowly in the park. Unlike game drives where travellers use safari cars birding requests moving on foot or walking safaris. Some of the Birds of Tsavo national park include: Papyrus Gonolek, Acrocephalus griseldis, Somolia Ostrich, Martial Eagle, Anhinga rufa, African Finfot, Casmerodius albus, Lesser Kestrel,Red-Bellied parrot, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, Fischer’ starling, Golden Pitpit, Polemaetus bellicosus, Black-faced sangrouse, Rufous chatterer, Taita fiscal, Masai ostrich, Secretary bird, Vulturine guineafowl, Shelkley’s starling, Slender-tailed nightjar,Golden-breasted starling, Vultures, common bul bul, Hamer kop, Little egret, Mourning Dove, Love birds, trigonoceps occipitalis and many others. The list is long but can easily be achieved on our thre to five days birding safari.
Best time to see birds of Tsavo national park
However much there are specific periods of the year, birds of Tsavo national park can be seen any time of the year. Majority of the bird species are permanent residents and the park is still less visited (not crawded) this makes birding safaris excellent any time of the year. Birding in African is done during the rainy season of the year. This is because the parks are quite and less visited during this time. Secondly it’s the breeding season for birds hence making the birds to easily been seen. The last reason is that during the rainy season Tsavo national park receives the migratory birds from different parts of the world hence giving birders more diversified number of birds to see. When the birds are breeding they will not move far away from their nests hence making it very easy to see them. Good timing is also considered when planning for the best birding safaris not only in Tsavo national park but entire African national parks. Our experts like advising our guests as we prepare them for their next wildlife safaris.
