Resident Psittacus erithacus
Grey parrots on Rubondo descend from birds confiscated from the illegal pet trade and released on the island.
The Grey Parrot is not native to Tanzania. The birds on Rubondo Island come from parrots seized from the illegal trade and released on the protected island.
The species is Endangered in the wild, largely because of trapping for the pet trade, so seeing free-flying birds here is a small conservation story in itself.
Forest on Rubondo Island National Park.
Guide’s tipListen for whistles and screeches at dawn and dusk, when they fly between roosting and feeding trees.
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.
Quiet island park with forest birds, waterbirds and sitatunga.
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.
