Major Birds in Gishwati- Mukura National Park.
Gishwati- Mukura National Park is an incredible birding destination in East Africa, famous for hosting Albertine Rift endemics. This is the newest national park in Rwanda, established in 2015 to protect the Albertine Rift endemic species and wildlife species which were existing at that time. Its formed of the large Gishwati forest and the small Mukura forest, its home to a good number of bird species, hosting up to 230 bird species in Gishwati forest and 163 bird species in Mukura forest, making it one of the most important bird-watching destinations in Rwanda. The bird species include Albertine Rift endemics, forest birds, water birds, and migratory bird species. The park’s rich avian diversity is supported by the presence of a mix of ecosystems that provide habitats to different bird species, such as wetlands, tropical rainforests, montane forests and grasslands. This blog will list major birds to encounter on a birding safari in Gishwati- Mukura National Park. Bird watching in the park is best done in the morning hours when birds are most active.
Major Birds in Gishwati- Mukura National Park.
- Great Blue Turaco
- Black-billed Turaco
- Rwenzori Turaco
- Blue-headed Coucal
- Blue Malkoha
- African Stonechat
- Abyssinian Ground-Thrush
- Abyssinian Thrush
- Slender-billed Starling
- Cardinal Woodpecker
- Bearded Woodpecker
- Olive Woodpecker
- Tullberg’s Woodpecker
- Eurasian Kestrel
- Rwenzori Batis
- Chinspot Batis
- Northern Puffback
- Lüdher’s Bushshrike
- Tropical Boubou
- Willard’s Sooty Boubou
- Albertine Boubou
- Many-colored Bushshrike
- Handsome Francolin
- Scaly Francolin
- Rameron Pigeon
- Dusky Turtle-Dove
- Red-eyed Dove
- Blue-spotted Wood-Dove
- Tambourine Dove
- African Green-Pigeon
- Klaas’s Cuckoo
- African Emerald Cuckoo
- Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo
- Black Cuckoo
- Red-chested Cuckoo
- Rwenzori Nightjar
- Square-tailed Nightjar
- Little Swift
- Red-chested Flufftail
- Black Crake
- Gray Crowned-Crane
- Black-headed Heron
- Hadada Ibis
- African Harrier-Hawk
- Hooded Vulture
- Tawny Eagle
- African Goshawk
- Black Goshawk
- Black Kite (Yellow-billed)
- Mountain Buzzard
- Augur Buzzard
- Verreaux’s Eagle-Ow
- Red-chested Owlet
- African Wood-Ow
- Speckled Mousebird
- Narina Trogon
- Bar-tailed Trogon
- White-headed Woodhoopoe
- Crowned Hornbill
- Gray-headed Kingfisher
- Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
- Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
- Lesser Honeyguide
- Scaly-throated Honeyguide
- Elliot’s Woodpecker
- Doherty’s Bushshrike
- Lagden’s Bushshrike
- Gray Cuckooshrike
- Black Cuckooshrike
- Mackinnon’s Shrike
- Northern Fiscal
- African Golden Oriole
- Black-tailed Oriole
- Common Bulbul (Dark-capped)
- White-browed Crombec
- Grauer’s Warbler
- Red-faced Woodland-Warbler
- African Yellow-Warbler
- Mountain Yellow-Warbler
- African Reed Warbler
- Evergreen-Forest Warbler
- Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler
- Grauer’s Swamp Warbler
- Rwenzori Apalis
- Green-backed Camaroptera
- Black-throated Apalis
- Black-faced Apalis
- Chestnut-throated Apalis
- Banded Prinia
- Black-faced Rufous-Warbler
- Gray-capped Warbler
- Chubb’s Cisticola
- African Yellow White-eye
- Rwenzori Hill Babbler
- Mountain Illadopsis
- Gray-chested Babbler
- Dusky-brown Flycatcher
- Yellow-eyed Black-Flycatcher
- White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher
- Stuhlmann’s Starling
- Collared Sunbird
- Green-headed Sunbird
- Blue-headed Sunbird
- Olive Sunbird
- Scarlet-chested Sunbird
- Purple-breasted Sunbird
- Bronze Sunbird
- Malachite Sunbird
- Stuhlmann’s Sunbird
- Northern Double-collared Sunbird
- Regal Sunbird
- Variable Sunbird
- Cape Wagtail
- Mountain Wagtail
- African Pied Wagtail
- African Pipit
- Yellow-fronted Canary
- Western Citril
- Streaky Seedeater
- Thick-billed Seedeater
- Yellow-crowned Canary
- Golden-breasted Bunting
- Baglafecht Weaver
- Strange Weaver
- Holub’s Golden Weaver
- Brown-capped Weaver
- Yellow-bellied Waxbill
- Dusky Crimsonwing
- Fawn-breasted Waxbill
- Crimson-rumped Waxbill
- White-headed Sawwing
- Black Sawwing
- White-tailed Blue Flycatcher
- Stripe-breasted Tit
- Eastern Mountain-Greenbu
- Yellow-whiskered Greenbul
- Yellow-streaked Greenbu.
- Common Waxbill
- Black-crowned Waxbill
- Kandt’s Waxbill
- African Paradise-Flycatcher
- Pied Crow
- White-necked Raven
- Rock Martin
- Angola Swallow
- Red-rumped Swallow
- Archer’s Robin-Chat
- Cape Robin-Chat
- White-browed Robin-Chat
- Red-capped Robin-Chat
- White-starred Robin
- Red-throated Alethe
- Equatorial Akalat
- Waller’s Starling
- Sharpe’s Starling
