Near-endemic Caprimulgus guttifer
A ghost of the forest edge at dusk, and one of the Usambaras’ special birds.
The Usambara Nightjar is restricted to the Eastern Arc mountains and a few other highland forests, and the Usambaras are the easiest place to find it. It hunts moths at dusk along forest edges and roads.
We usually look for it on a short walk after dinner. Night birding here can also produce Usambara Eagle-Owl, one of the rarest owls in the world.
Forest edges and clearings in the West and East Usambaras.
Guide’s tipNightjars sit on tracks after dark. Walk slowly with a torch held low and look for the orange eyeshine.
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.
Ancient Eastern Arc forests holding Tanzania’s rarest endemic 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.
