Bird watching activity in Akagera National park Rwanda
Bird watching in Akagera National Park involves tourists traversing different sections of this park using different trails on the outlook of different bird species that the park harbors. The activity of bird watching in Akagera is awesome since it hosts different bird species that cannot be found in any other national park in Rwanda.
Sited on the Northern region of Rwanda and near to the border with Tanzania, Akagera national park can be reached through the use of road transport from Kigali international airport which will take you approximately three hours to reach the park for your safari activities. The Akagera National park is home to big 5 animals that include lions, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes, and elephants which can’t be sighted anywhere other than in this park.
Bird watching activity in Akagera National Park is the most popular activity for birders and other tourists visiting Akagera National Park because of the highest number of bird species that the bird species inhabit. The Akagera National Park is also known as birders haven in addition to wildlife safaris of game drives, nature walks, and very many others. The activity of bird watching in Akagera National park can be done alongside nature walks and slightly when doing game drives.
While on bird watching in Akagera National park, expect to get an opportunity to encounter around 500 unique bird species that are not found in any other park other than this. However the Akagera National park has few forests bird species and those that are of Albertine origin, visitors always come out from birding safaris in this park so excited and satisfied with savannah grassland species and woodland inhabitants.
You will spot different bird species of which some of them are prevalent in Akagera National Park. While on bird watching safari in Akagera National park expect to see birds notably terraces, red’-faced barbet, long-tailed cistola, Suaza shrike and shoe bill that can be spotted in various sections of the park especially on the logged areas.
It is important to note that before birding activities in Akagera national park commences, there is always a short briefing to you our clients by a professional guide who will introduce to you how birding activity is carried out. This briefing will make you know what you’re supposed to do and not while on your tour. Tourists must follow the specific trial while being led by a professional tour guide to have an astounding birding safari in the park.
After the ritual briefing, you start your drive in the open grassland and (Savannah) while spotting different bird species in Akagera National Park. Additionally, tourists still can have a chance to spot different bird species while doing activities such as boat cruise of Lake Ihema as well as when having nature guided walks within Akagera national park. Having birding safaris in Akagera national park is amazing which you shouldn’t miss as an adventurer.
Best Time for Bird Watching in Akagera National Park
Bird watching in Akagera National Park can be done throughout the year however, each season offers a different array of species. The Dry season, from June to September, is best for francolins, many wetland birds, nightjars and owls. The early rainy season, in October, is best for lapwings and many open grassland bird species however, songbirds are most active from September to November and again in March and April. Colonial breeding water birds like cormorants, herons, storks, darters and ibises mainly breed from February to July. Migratory birds are also present from November to April. The following is a list of bird species in Akagera national park in Rwanda; Amur falcon, Red-faced barbet, Red-winged francolin, Beaudouin’s snake eagle, Blue-shouldered robin-chat, Cabanis’s bunting, Ring-necked francolin, Shelley’s francolin, Carruthers’s cisticola, Crested barbet, Shoebill, Short-tailed pipit, Slate-coloured boubou, Sooty falcon, Souza’s shrike, Striped pipit, White-winged swamp warbler, Yellow-bellied eremomela, Denham’s bustard, Dimorphic egret, Eleonora’s falcon, Booted eagle, Brown-chested lapwing, Grasshopper buzzard, Tabora cisticola, Western reef heron, Northern brown-throated weaver and Papyrus gonolek
Requirements for a birding safari in Akagera National park in Rwanda
Requirements for a birding safari in Akagera National park in Rwanda; these include the list of activities that you should leave behind while going on for birding safaris. These include among others the following;
- Binoculars that will help you view those birds in a distant place where your naked eyes can’t reach properly.
- Cameras; most visitors on safaris prefer going for bird watching safaris with cameras that help in taking pictures for remembrance and beautiful memories within the park.
- You will need a hut to protect your head in the case or strong sunshine or drizzling
- Birding checklist for easy identification of various bird species
- Hiking boots as well as insect repellents because you shall be in the wild and there always a lot of mosquitoes.
Please enjoy with birding safari will experienced guide who will make your safari a marvelous one. Remember there are other activities which you can participate in outside the Akagera National Park and in other places in Kigali city and these include; taking a tour to the falls of Rusumo, visit the presidential residence, guided tour to museum and memorial centers of genocide.
