Endemic Xenoperdix udzungwensis
Discovered in 1991 from a cooking pot. A partridge with Asian relatives, found only in the Udzungwa forests.
The Udzungwa Forest Partridge is one of the great ornithological discoveries of recent decades, first noticed as legs in a village cooking pot in 1991. Its closest relatives live in Asia, not Africa.
Seeing one requires a serious hike into high forest and a good deal of luck. It is a bird for dedicated listers, and we are honest about the odds before you commit to the walk.
High montane forest in the Udzungwa Mountains; Ndundulu and Luhomero forests.
Guide’s tipPartridges call at dawn. Be on the trail before first light and listen for a soft, whistled duet.
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.
Rainforest endemics, Sanje Falls and the Kilombero Weaver in southern Tanzania.
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.
