Birds found in Lake Nakuru
Birds found in Lake Nakuru : Lake Nakuru National Park is among the top birding destinations in Kenya recognized as an Important Birding Area (IBA), the park is renowned for large population of flamingoes (lesser and greater) which are found on the shores of Lake Nakuru.
Lake Nakuru National Park is a very important breeding ground for many species and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lake Nakuru national park is one of the three finest game parks in Kenya.
Lake Nakuru National Park lies to the South of Nakuru in the rift valley of Kenya in Nakuru County, central Kenya and approximately 140 kilometers North West of Nairobi City – the capital of Kenya.
Lake Nakuru meaning a dusty place in Masai language was first gazetted as a bird sanctuary in 1960 and later upgraded to National Park status in June 1968 purposely to protect the huge flocks of lesser flamingoes that inhabit the site.
Lake Nakuru is one of the several alkaline lakes found in the Great Rift Valley and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park, the lake is 170 square kilometers and is famed for hosting a huge population of flamingoes which create a pink plumage on the shores of the lake.
Over 2,000,000 flamingoes have been seen on the shores of Lake Nakuru, the flamingoes are attracted to the lake are seen feeding on the algae thriving on its warm waters. Flocks of flamingoes are seen wading through the shallow waters turning the whole lake into a shimmering shade of pink.
Lake Nakuru National Park is hot birding spot hosting over 500 bird species including over 1,496,000 waterbirds and 5 globally threatened species Madagascar Pond-Heron, Lesser Flamingo, Pallid Harrier, Greater Spotted Eagle, Grey-crested Helmet-shrike along with large congregations of Greater Flamingo, Black-necked Grebe, Little Grebe, Great White Pelican, Yellow-billed Stork, African Spoonbill, Black-winged Stilt, Grey-headed Gull and Gull-billed Tern.
Birds in Lake Nakuru National Park include migratory, endemic and resident birds of which some are endangered, threatened species and species that are critically endangered. The most endangered bird species in Lake Nakuru National Park include Rueppells Griffon, Gray crowned-crown, and white-backed Vulture. Other species are nearly endangered and these include European Roller, Great Snipe, black-tailed Godwit, Maccoa Duck, lesser flamingos, and they’re also birds that are Vulnerable and these include white-headed Vulture, Imperial Eagle, Lappet-faced Vulture, Abyssinian Thrush, and Greater spotted Eagle among others.
Birds found in Lake Nakuru National Park
Bird species found in Lake Nakuru National Park include
The ostrich species are only species found in Lake Nakuru National Park and they are known as the common Ostrich.
Duck Species are found in Lake Nakuru National Park include the Northern Pintail, Tufted Duck, Maccoa Duck, Egyptian Goose, Cape Teal, Hottentot Teal, Red-billed Duck, Yellow-Billed duck, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Southern Pochard, Garganey among others.
Flamingoes are the highlight birds in Lake Nakuru National Park, the park is known for the large population of flamingo birds including both lesser and Greater flamingo birds.
Other bird species found in Lake Nakuru National Park include Finches, allies, and Euphonians and Reichenows seedeater, Brimstone Canary, plain-backed Pipit, yellow-throated Longclaw, African pied wagtail, Western Yellow Wagtail, Mountain Wagtail, red-throated Pipit among others.
The bird range in Lake Nakuru National Park also extends to Old Word and sparrows including Northern Gray-headed Sparrow, the purple grenadier, African fire finch, Black and White Mannikin, Common Waxbill, crimson-ramped waxbill, Red-cheeked Cordonbleu, lesser Masked weavers, Long-tailed Widowbird, spectacled Weaver, Speke’s Weaver, Double-collared Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, green-headed sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, Shinning sunbird, Eastern Violet-backed Sunbird, golden-winged sunbird among others.
The park also provides a chance to spot some of the Old World Flycatchers include Abyssinian Wheatear, common redstart, spotted flycatcher, pied wheatear, Cape robin-chat, Thrush Nightingale, white-browed Robin-chart, spotted Flycatcher, White-eyed slaty-Flycatcher, Northern wheatear, Red-backed Scrub-robin, Common redstart, Common Nightingale, African Grey Fly-Catcher, Mocking Cliff-Chat among others.
Other bird species found in Lake Nakuru National Park include the African Thrush, Abyssinian Thrush, Superb Starling, Wattle Starling, Hildebrandt’s Starling, and Greater Blue-eared Starling among others. There are also red-billed oxpecker, Arrow-marked Babbler, Rufous Chatters, Kikuyu White-eye, Eurasian Blackcap, Greater Whitethroat, Slender-billed Greenbul, Common Bulbul, Willow Warbler, olive warbler, Eurasian reed warbler, Mosque Swallow, Black sawing, Rock Martin, Bank Swallow, Wire-tailed Swallow, Marsh warbler, cape crow and pied crow, Gray-backed Fiscal, Northern Fiscal, Red-backed Shrike, White-bellied Tit, Grey-Crested Helmet shrike, Brown- crowned Tchagra, Fork-tailed Drongo, Black Cuckoo-shrike, Common Scimitar bill, African Gray Hornbill, Giant kingfisher, Gray-headed Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, Violet Wood hoopoe, Common Scimitar bill, African hoopoe among other bird species.
Lake Nakuru National Park offer excellent sightings of all the above bird species, book your birding safari in Kenya and Lake Nakuru National Park.
