Resident Icthyophaga vocifer
The voice of Africa. A white-headed eagle whose ringing call carries across every lake and river.
Few sounds are as evocative as an African Fish Eagle calling over a lake at dawn. Pairs mate for life, hold territories along the shore and snatch fish from the surface in a low, fast swoop.
They are easy to see on Lake Manyara and the Momella Lakes, along the Serengeti rivers and around the camps at Gombe and Mahale, where they take fish scraps from the beach.
Lake Manyara, the Momella Lakes, the Serengeti rivers, the Great Ruaha and Lake Tanganyika.
Guide’s tipPairs call together with heads thrown back. Listen at dawn near any water.
Sightings are never guaranteed: these are wild animals in wild places. What we can promise is a guide who knows where to look.
Destinations
The parks and reserves where our guides look for it, each with its own best season and safaris.
Montane forest, the Momella Lakes and Hartlaub’s Turaco, just 45 minutes from Arusha.
Seasonal soda lake with flamingos, waterbirds and quiet dry bush.
Africa’s largest lake, with papyrus specialists and lakeshore birds.
Quiet island park with forest birds, waterbirds and sitatunga.
Clear lake, western forest birds and the gateway to Gombe and Mahale.
Tree-climbing lions, groundwater forest and a soda lake full of waterbirds.
Vast plains, the Great Migration and big cats all year round.
Track wild chimpanzees in the forests where Jane Goodall began her research.
Tanzania’s largest park: big predators, baobab plains and 570+ bird species.
Keep exploring
Chersomanes beesleyi
Fewer than a hundred birds left, all on one patch of plain north of Arusha. Nowhere else on earth.
Tauraco hartlaubi
A flash of crimson wings in the forest canopy. Arusha National Park is the easiest place to see one.
Tauraco fischeri
The coastal and Usambara forests’ turaco, with a red crest tipped white. A target bird for every East Usambara trip.
Sagittarius serpentarius
A raptor that hunts on foot, stamping snakes to death in the grass. Unmistakable striding across the plains.
Balearica regulorum
The golden crown, the dance and the bugling call. Endangered, but still a daily sight on the crater floor.
Ardeotis kori
The heaviest flying bird in the world, pacing the plains with its neck puffed up in display.
Phoeniconaias minor
Pink crowds on the soda lakes. Numbers rise and fall with the water, so your guide checks before you go.
Lamprotornis unicolor
Tanzania’s own starling: long-tailed, dusty grey and common around the baobabs of Tarangire.
Tell us your dates and the birds or animals you most want to see. We’ll reply within 24 hours with a route and a full quote.
