23 May Full Day or Half Day Nairobi National Park Birding Tours
A Day Out in Nairobi National Park on a Birding Tour
Birding in Kenya doesn’t get much better than in the capital itself. Nairobi National Park, Kenya’s oldest, is a mere stone’s throw away from the bustling heart of the nation’s capital, just 7 kilometers from the city centre. Widely renowned as the best birding location in Kenya, this urban gem boasts an impressive count of over 500 recorded bird species within its boundaries.
Encompassing an expanse of 117.21 square kilometers, Nairobi National Park offers an ideal setting for a full day dedicated to birding. On a typical day’s tour, an impressive average of 170 to 220 species can be spotted. However, our past tours have seen this count surpassed on exceptionally productive days, making the park a true haven for avid birders. Of course, you are likely to see lots of African megafauna too, with sightings of lions, leopards, rhino, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest being common.
The day begins with an early pick-up at 6 am, allowing you to witness Nairobi’s stunning sunrise during the brief drive to the park gate. Upon arrival, we’ll focus our attention on observing forest edge species found close to the park entrance. As we venture further into the open plains, the shift in habitat presents an opportunity to spot a different array of avian residents, with intermittent stops at various wetlands within the park.
After a picnic lunch amidst the park’s serene surroundings, you’ll have the chance to do some on-foot birding around the picnic site in Nairobi National Park which is always a highlight.
We’ll then spend the entire afternoon scouring the park’s diverse habitats, determined to spot any species that may have eluded us earlier in the day. At 5:30 pm, after a rewarding day of birding in Nairobi, we’ll return back to the park gate.
Before departing back to your hotel, we’ll review our extensive checklist– an occasion for well-deserved bragging rights among fellow birders.
The tour, priced at £270/$340 per person, includes park fees, a pop-up roof safari 4WD vehicle, a professional bird guide, mineral water, a picnic lunch, and pick-up and drop-off within Nairobi city. It’s an opportunity to experience the rich avian diversity of Nairobi National Park, right in the heart of a vibrant urban setting.
A few bird species highlights:
- African Yellow White-eye
- Common Nightingale
- Ruppell’s Robin-chat
- Northern Pied Babbler
- White-tailed Lark
- Rufous-naped Lark
- Somali Short-toed Lark
- Red-throated Tit
- Speke’s Weaver
- Grey Crowned Crane
- Yellow-necked Spurfowl
- Martial Eagle
- African Crowned Eagle
- Wahlberg’s Eagle
- African Fish Eagle
- African Quail-finch
- Zebra Waxbill
- Harlequin Quail
- Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
- Secretarybird
- Superb Starling
- African Water Rail
- Spotted Thick-knee
- Black-winged Plover
- African Finfoot
- Pangani Longclaw
- Jackson’s Widowbird
- Kori Bustard
- Hartlaub’s Bustard
- Saddle-billed Stork
- Pin-tailed Whydah
- Lappet-faced Vulture
- Violet Wood-hoopoe
- Nairobi Pipit
- Grassland Pipit
- Siffling Cisticola
- Croaking Cisticola
- Desert Cisticola
One can also look on eBird (which we use regularly on our tours) for the most up-to-date sightings and checklists of Nairobi National Park
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