Resident Ceryle rudis
A black-and-white kingfisher that hovers over open water before plunging in after fish.
Pied Kingfishers are common around Tanzania’s big lakes. Unlike most kingfishers, they hunt by hovering over the water, which lets them fish far from any perch.
Boat trips on Lake Victoria, around Rubondo Island and on Lake Tanganyika almost always turn them up.
Lake Victoria, Rubondo Island and Lake Tanganyika.
Guide’s tipEasy to photograph from a boat. Wait for it to hover, then follow it down.
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.
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.
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.
