Incredible Birding Sites in Nairobi : Nairobi City is the capital city of Kenya and the largest city in the country, the vibrant city is rich with history and tribal culture exhibited through several museums including The Karen Blixen Museum, The Nairobi National Museum among others.
Nairobi city is a one stop destination for visitors on a business trip, business meeting, a vacation and a Kenya safari. Nairobi as a safari destination, it hosts a number of rewarding and breathtaking safari destinations including Nairobi national park among others. Nairobi City is listed among the best birding destinations in Kenya with incredible birding destinations to visit while on a one day birding trip.
Below are the incredible birding destinations around and in Nairobi City
- Nairobi National Park
Nairobi national park is a well known Kenya national park for being the only national park in the world situated within a capital city, the park is found in Nairobi city – the capital of Kenya and is situated approximately 7 kilometers from the city center.
The park stretches over an area of 117 square kilometers comprising of a variety of habitants which act a home to a huge population of wildlife as well as birdlife, these habitats are categorized into natural and man-made habitats and they include man made dams, open grasslands, bush country, rock gorges, riverine woodland and highland forest.
Nairobi national park is listed among the Important Birding Areas in Kenya and is an incredible bird watcher’s haven with over 520 bird species of birds including resident species and migratory species, Incredible Birding Sites in Nairobi.
Birding in Nairobi national park is done with a good resident ornithologist (bird guide) who knows where to find the birds and will explain them to you in details, birds to lookout for in Nairobi national park include globally threatened Corncrake, Madagascar Pond-Heron, Lesser Kestrel, Corncrake, Jackson’s Widowbird, Red-throated Tit and the near threatened Shoebill Stork, and Basra Reed Warbler has both been spotted. Regionally threatened species include Struthio camelus, Hieraaetus ayresii, Stephanoaetus coronatus, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, Polemaetus bellicosus, Anhinga rufa, Casmerodius albus, Podica senegalensis, and Buphagus africanus among others.
In addition to sights of colorful birds, you will enjoy watching wildlife species hosted in the park such as Zebras, Elands, impalas, hartebeests, lions, cape buffaloes, giraffes, rhinos, leopards and occasional cheetahs.
- MAGADI ROAD, OLORGESAILIE PREHISTORIC SITE AND LAKE MAGADI
Magadi Road is one of the famous routes used while driving through Nairobi City, the route is 115 kilometers leading to Lake Magadi and it is in good tarmac conditions throughout making it great for driving.
After leaving Nairobi uplands, the route crosses at the end of the Ngong Hills before dropping down the side of the Rift Valley – the upland grassland habitats of the Ngong Hills transcending into the semi – arid bush country below. As you drive on this route, you will have frequent stopovers to enjoy sights of an incredible selection of birds such as large numbers of weavers, whydahs and finches at the seasonal waterholes.
Olorgesailie Archaeological site situated approximately 65 kilometers from Nairobi city, left after Oltepesi, after from being an interesting archaeological site, it is also an incredible birding site while in Nairobi City. This site hosts a good number of birds including large flocks of weavers and finches which are attracted to the water bath situated next to the rest area and a trail around the perimeter of the site.
Olorgesailie Archaeological Site is an incredible site for spotting coursers, larks and Ashy Cisticola.
Lake Magadi is a classic birding site around Nairobi City as well as Kenya, the site is a Rift Valley Soda Lake situated in the Rift Valley Escarpment which is close to Nairobi City, a portion of this soda lake is used for soda mining done by the Magadi Soda Company but most part of the lake is total undisturbed.
Lake Magadi is incredible hosts for a large number of water birds seen congregating around the south edges of the lake, most of the common bird species to spot at Lake Magadi are the pink flamingoes. Other bird species to look out for at Lake Magadi include Common Rock Thrush, Northern Wheatear, Vitelline Masked Weaver, Black-necked Weaver, Red-throated Tit, Wailing Cisticola, African Bare-eyed Thrush, Pringle’s Puffback, Zanzibar Greenbul, Ashy Cisticola, Mouse-coloured Penduline Tit, Buff-crested Bustard, Somali Bunting, Tiny Cisticola, Red-fronted Warbler, Swahili Sparrow, White-throated Bee-eater, Magadi Plover, Dimorphic Egret, Gull-billed Tern, Two-banded Courser, Three-banded Courser among others.
Lake Magadi is an incredible birding spot for Ting Chestnut – Banded plover in Kenya.
- GATAMAIYU FOREST, MANGUO POND, LIMURU AND KINANGOP GRASSLAND.
The Gatamaiyu Forest
The Gatamaiya Forest is part of the larger Kereita forest situated approximately 55 kilometers north of Nairobi city just beyond Gatamaiyu Village and lies at the altitude of 2200 meters, Gatamaiyu Forest is dominated by montane forests hosting several bird species including White-headed Wood Hoopoe, Abott Starling, Ayre’s Hawk Eagle, Bar-tailed Trogon, African Black Duck, Hartlaub’s Turaco Chestnut-throated Apalis and Cinnamon Chested Bee-eater among others, Incredible Birding Sites in Nairobi.
When visiting the Gatamaiyu Forest always remember to carry a rain jacket and warm clothes asit can be cold and rainy sometimes.
Manguo Swamp (Limuru Pond)
Manguo Swamp (Limuru Pond) is an extensive wetland of water thickly lined with reed along one side, the swamp is an incredible spot for birding in Nairobi as it hosts a number of ducks congregating at the swamp between October and February. Other birds hosted at the swamp include Pintail, Garganey and Shoveler, Maccoa Duck are breeders along with Red-billed and Hottentot Teal which are also migrant species.
Along the reeds of the Manguo Swamp, there is a good population of migrant wanders such as snipe and Green Sandpiper, large number of swallows such as these include Banded Sand and Plain Martin, Mosque and Grey-rumped Swallows spotted feeding over the pond. Other animals you shoud lookout for this site include herons, crakes, warblers, boggy margins, sunbirds, cisticolas and Finches.
Kinangop grassland
Kinangop grassland is a wide stretch of land bounded by forests of the Aberdares Mountains and the Kikuyu Escarpment to the south and the East, the grassland lies on the Kinangop Plateau at around 2300 meters above the sea level.
The grasslands are dominated by the original tussock grasses and swamps, however due to the extensive farming carried out n the area, these swamps have reduced, Incredible Birding Sites in Nairobi.
Kinangop grassland is a home to a huge population of bird species which make it an incredible site for bird watching in Nairobi, the swamp hosts the most sought after Long- tailed and Jackson’s widow birds and the endemic Sharpe’s long claw.
