Resident Pternistis hildebrandti
A handsome, spotted francolin of rocky hillsides and crater slopes, calling harshly at dawn.
Hildebrandt’s Francolin is one of the more attractive francolins, with heavy black spotting on a white breast. It likes rocky, bushy slopes and is often on the road down into the Ngorongoro Crater in the early morning.
It is also regular in Arusha National Park and on the hills of Tarangire. Grey-breasted Spurfowl, a Serengeti endemic, is the other francolin we look for on the northern circuit.
The Ngorongoro Crater rim and descent roads, Arusha National Park and Tarangire’s hills.
Guide’s tipFrancolins feed on tracks at first light and run for cover as the sun rises. Drive the descent road early.
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.
Huge elephant herds, ancient baobabs and Tanzania’s endemic birds.
A volcanic caldera with black rhino, lions and big grassland birds.
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.
