Tanzania's bird list runs past 1,100 species, with northern Tanzania holding several birds found nowhere else on Earth alongside classic Rift Valley lake spectacles. These are the ones travelers on Hudhud's Tanzania itineraries ask about most.
Northern Tanzania birds well in every month. Palearctic migrants are present roughly October to April, and the calving season on the southern Serengeti plains (roughly December to March) coincides with excellent grassland birding. Rains fall mainly in November and from March to May, which can affect some road access. We match the route to the season and to what you most want to see.
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Agapornis fischeri
A small, stocky parrot: green body, orange-red face fading to yellow on the nape, and a bright red bill. Near-endemic to north-central Tanzania, common around Lake Manyara and the Serengeti's woodland edges, usually in noisy flocks.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
View live sightings on eBird →Pternistis rufopictus
A large grey-and-brown francolin found only in Tanzania, with bare red skin on the throat and around the eyes, a red bill, and chestnut-buff-black markings along the flanks. Found in dry thorn savanna and woodland around the Serengeti and Ngorongoro highlands, usually in pairs or small groups.
View live sightings on eBird →Histurgops ruficauda
An unusual weaver endemic to northern Tanzania's dry country, with pale blue eyes, a heavily streaked brown body, and a rufous tail. Forms noisy, active flocks around Serengeti and Tarangire, often near acacia woodland.
View live sightings on eBird →Lamprotornis unicolor
A plain, uniformly grey-brown starling with a notably long tail — unusual among East Africa's often gaudy starlings. Endemic to northern Tanzania's dry savanna, common around Tarangire National Park and the Maasai Steppe.
View live sightings on eBird →
Ardeotis kori
Africa's heaviest flying bird: a large, long-legged bustard with a black-and-white checkered wing pattern and a grey, finely-vermiculated neck and crest. Walks steadily through open grassland and savanna, rarely flying unless disturbed.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
View live sightings on eBird →
Bucorvus leadbeateri
An enormous, mostly black, ground-dwelling hornbill with bright red facial and throat skin (blue in the center for females). Walks in small family groups across grassland, hunting insects, small reptiles, and rodents on foot.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
View live sightings on eBird →Bycanistes brevis
A large black-and-white hornbill with a pale, oversized casque atop the bill, larger in males. Found in forest and forest-edge habitat at higher elevations, including the Ngorongoro Highlands, often seen in fruiting fig trees.
View live sightings on eBird →
Phoeniconaias minor
The smallest flamingo species, feeding on cyanobacteria in alkaline lakes. Lake Natron, in northern Tanzania, is the single most important breeding site for the species in East Africa, alongside non-breeding flocks at Lake Manyara.
View live sightings on eBird →Data: eBird / Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Field marks and range notes checked against eBird species accounts and Birds of the World before publishing.
Ask us about birding-focused itineraries in Tanzania.
