Bird watching in Nairobi National Park

Bird watching in Nairobi National Park : Nairobi national park is one of the Important Birding Areas in Kenya and great birding destination with more than 532 species of birds recorded in the park.

Nairobi national park “The World’s only Wildlife Capital” is one of the most accessible safari destinations in Kenya as it is situated just 7 milometers from the center of Kenya’s capital City. Nairobi national park is the only park in the whole world that hosts all the most safari animals yet it is located within the boundaries of a capital city, the park is situated adjacent to a motorway, train station, residential housing and nearby skyscrapers making the Nairobi Skyline.

Nairobi national park covers an area of 117 kilometers comprising of wheaten savanna, forested gullies and cloud crusted blue skies, the park isn’t a zoo or a western style safari park but is a real park with animals living in their natural habitat. Because it is an urban park, Nairobi national park is fenced on all sides for the protection of animals and the people in the city.

 In the Southern region, Nairobi national park is flanked by the Athi and Embakasi Rivers that feed the ecosystem in the park, these rivers are habitants to animals and several bird species in the park.

Bird watching in Nairobi National Park
Bird watching in Nairobi National Park

Nairobi national park is a wonderful habitat to both wildlife and birdlife thanks to having a lot of habitats that provide a favorable environment to the animals, these habitants include the grass plains, unique rocky gorges, and the dry upland forests, valley thickest, riverine woodland, the valley with thicket vegetation.

Nairobi national park was declared as a national park and opened for tourism in 1946.

 Bird Watching in Nairobi National Park

 Bird watching / birding is one of the major and amazing African safari activity in Nairobi national park, the park hosts a strong population of bird life with over 520 recorded bird species including 27 bird species that are Kenyan Mountain endemic and 25 bird species of the African highlands biome.  Some of the signature bird species in Nairobi national park include the migratory lesser falcon birds, these birds can easily be seen in the park and are recorded to be more than 5000 individuals.

Nairobi national park is considered to be the a center for birding and the fact that is mainly comprised of grasslands, it has made it easy for a significant number of birds especially species of great importance such as the restricted ranges Jackson’s widowbird to survive because such environments gives it a comfortable breeding ground which is so interesting and wonderful.

The most common bird species you will see in Nairobi national park during your bird-watching safari in Kenya include the lesser Kestrel, Basra reed warbler, Red-Throated Tit, Madagascar pond-Heron, and the prominent rare billed stock. There are also regional birds that are threatened and have found a home in Nairobi national park and these include Stephanoaetus Coronatus, Podica senegalensis, Struthio camelus, Buphagus africanus, Ephippiorhynchus among other.

  Other important bird species in Nairobi national park include Martial Eagle, African crowned Eagle, Nairobi pipit, Desert cisticola, Violet wood-hoopoes, Sandle-billed stork zebras waxbill, Croaking Cisticola, Rosy-breasted Longclaw, Super starling, Lilac-breasted roller, Southern ground hornbill, African Quail-finch, Grey Crowned Crane, Secretary birds, Spikes weaker, Northern pied babbler among others.

Bird watching in Nairobi National Park
Secretary birds

In additional to Bird species, Nairobi national park is a habitat to several wildlife animals which you will also spot during bird watching safari, these include wildebeest, rhinos, cape buffaloes, hippopotamuses, Nile crocodiles, leopards among others

When is the best time to do bird watching in Nairobi National Park?

Birding in Nairobi national park can be done throughout the whole year however the best birding time in the park is during the period of April and November when the migratory birds from European and Africa countries arrive in the park.

April and November are the breeding season in Nairobi national park and the the Jackson widowbird can be seen only from March to May. April experiences rainfall.

Where to stay in Nairobi National park

For birders on a bird watching safari in Nairobi national park, there are a lot of accommodation choices offering guest rooms for visitors, these accommodation options include hotels, lodges and campsites. These include Osita lodge, Swara Acacia lodge, Ololo Safari Lodge, The Last Village Lodge, Masi Lodge, Hotel Troy, and other camping grounds for the camping adventure.

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