Resident Tockus deckeni
The small dry-country hornbill with the red and ivory bill, hopping along the road ahead of the vehicle.
Von der Decken’s Hornbill is a bird of the dry bush, common in Tarangire and the thorn scrub around the Lark Plains. It feeds on the ground, often following other animals to catch the insects they disturb.
It is one of several small hornbills in northern Tanzania, and our guides enjoy sorting them out: Red-billed, Von der Decken’s and, in the far north, the near-endemic Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill.
Acacia and baobab woodland in Tarangire, the Lark Plains and Ruaha.
Guide’s tipMales have the two-tone bill; females’ bills are black. Pairs are usually close together.
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.
The only place on earth to see the critically endangered Beesley’s Lark.
Huge elephant herds, ancient baobabs and Tanzania’s endemic birds.
Tree-climbing lions, groundwater forest and a soda lake full of waterbirds.
Vast plains, the Great Migration and big cats all year round.
Tanzania’s largest park: big predators, baobab plains and 570+ bird species.
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.
