Rwanda’s wetlands and waterways are home to ten different herons, including two night-herons, and two species of bitterns. Most herons live near water, and in general the larger species prefer more open habitats. They all tend to have large broad wings with a slow somewhat leisurely wing beat and flight pattern. Unlike storks, herons fly …
Getting to know Rwanda’s Birds – The Herons and Bitterns Read More »
I am often asked “How many different birds are there in Rwanda?” Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer to give. One thing that makes this a difficult question to answer is that scientists don’t agree on how to define a species! Whilst it might be easy to recognise that an African Fish Eagle is one …
Rwanda is home to five egret species. When people think of egrets they think of white heron-like birds, but since the Black Egret, which is usually known as the Black Heron is actually an egret it is included in this article. The largest of Rwanda’s five egrets is the Great White Egret, it’s all white …
As a conservation organisation Gorilla Doctors is unique – they are the only organisation that provides life-saving veterinary care to mountain and eastern lowland (Grauer’s) gorillas in the wild. Mountain gorillas are found in the national parks of Rwanda, DRC and Uganda and Grauer’s gorillas are found only in eastern DRC. Gorilla Doctors is a …
Gorilla Doctors: Saving a species one gorilla at a time… Read More »
Rwanda is home to eleven different barbets. They are all residents, present throughout the year. That being said, some are a more common sight than others… For example, I often see the Spot-flanked Barbet in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, and across much of the country, whereas the Yellow-billed Barbet can only be found in Nyungwe National …
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All bee-eaters have bright and beautifully coloured plumage. Ten different bee-eater species can be found in Rwanda. These include the scarcely seen Blue-breasted Bee-eater and a single sighting of a Swallow-tailed Bee-eater. On the other end of the spectrum are the two most commonly seen species, the Little Bee-eater (the world’s smallest bee-eater) and the …
The Grey Crowned Crane is listed as Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species. Between the mid 1980s and 2015 the crane population in Rwanda dropped from 2,500 to below 500. This decline was largely due to poaching eggs for food, the illegal pet trade, as …
In Rwanda we wake up early. The sheer diversity and density of birds that can be found across the country is amplified by the awesome dawn chorus of bird song that greets us every day. Whilst wildlife photography has been a passion of mine for more than a decade, it is only since my family …
If you had asked me a couple of years to visualise a kingfisher, my mind would have conjured up an image of beautiful little bird with a long beak perched next to water. However, I now know this image fails to appreciate the diverse range of birds that make up the kingfisher family. Of the …
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Rwanda is home to 25 different species of Sunbird. Some like the Red-chested Sunbird and Scarlet-chested Sunbird can be found across the country in our gardens, urban centres, wooded areas, hedgerows, and thornbush savanna. Whereas others, like the Regal Sunbird and Purple-breasted Sunbird are endemic to the Albertine Rift and are best seen in Nyungwe …