Birding Factoids

908 species
in 75 families

27 endemic species
22 endangered species
50 speciality species
2-3 week trip expectation -
about 350-400 species, including over 20 endemics

    Ethiopia
    (and Eritrea)
    Hotspots
CIA Travel AdvisoryChecklist of Ethiopian BirdsTours and GuidesEco-LodgesSpeciality BirdsMap and General Country Information
...
Check out the Eritrea Birds discussion group on Yahoo
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Ethiopian Specialities
Wattled Ibis - ENDANGERED - Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
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Thick-billed Raven - Photo copyright Didier Godreau
Photo copyright Didier Godreau
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Rouget's Rail - endemic - Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
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Spot-breasted Lapwing - Photo copyright David Massie
Photo copyright David Massie
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Blue-winged Goose - THREATENED - Photo copyright Barry Koffler
Photo copyright Barry Koffler
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White-winged Cliff-chat - endemic - Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
     
    ...
    ....Important Bird Areas in Tigray, Ethiopia - Four areas (out of an overall
      total of 69 in Ethiopia) were identified so far as Important Bird Areas:
      • Lake Ashenge
      • Dessa'a Forest
      • Hugumburda and Grat-Kahsu Forests
      • Shire Lowlands in the Tekeze Valley
    ...
    ....Simen Mountain National Park - over 400 bird species have been
      identified in this park.
    ...
    ....Birds of Tigray, Ethiopia - by Lieuwe J. Dijksen. This site will inform
      you about the rich bird life in Tigray. Although the rural areas are densely populated, birds are not really threatened. Ethiopia is rich in birds. Of ca. 1850 species found in Africa, a little less than 850 are recorded from Ethiopia, together with Eritrea. Although Tigray only covers 1/15 of the area of these two countries approximately 500
      bird species can be seen here! This site includes many photos of Ethiopia's endemic and speciality birds.
    ...
    ....Records from Gambela, western Ethiopia - by Claire Spottiswoode
      and Michael Mills, from Bulletin of the African Bird Club, volume 7.2, September 2000. The lowlands of Illubador Province in extreme western Ethiopia have a fauna and flora, landscape and culture quite distinct from the rest of the country. Despite easy access to the region, with daily buses and thrice-weekly flights covering the 500 km between Addis Ababa and  Gambela (the second town of Illubador), it has received surprisingly little ornithological attention. 
    ...
    ....Trip Report: Ethiopia, 22nd February - 1st March 2003 - by
      Richard Bonser. This trip report summarizes an "Ethiopian Endemics" trip in February/March 2003 (with Naturetrek) that was expertly led by local birder and guide Negussie Toye. General birding was excellent, with at least 175 species noted on one date alone (28th February) and 353 species were noted during the trip.
    ...
    ....Trip Report: Ethiopia, November, 2002 - by Nick Ransdale. 
      With 342 bird species in under nine days, Ethiopia is an ideal destination for a short-range trip. With some 30 endemics, some African species difficult to see elsewhere, and many birds quite approachable, it makes for a birder and digiscoper's paradise.With this illustrated trip list I've added some information on species, etc that may be of use; it's a pretty concentrated trip.
    ...
    ....Trip Report: Birding in Ethiopia - 16 December 2001 - 9 January 2002, 
      by Paola Ricceri & Marco Salvioni. This is a Trip Report of a self-organised birding tour in Ethiopia. We’ve been visiting other countries in southern Africa before (Ethiopia being the northernmost region so far) and some of the birds we’ve met on the way were "old friends" to us. Also familiar was the difficulty in identifying the cisticola family, that’s why there are no such birds in our list. We had no local help identifying the species and so only the "certain species" have been included in the list. 
    ...
    ....Trip Report: Ethiopia , November 18 - December 5, 1997.
      By Mike Milton and Judy Schaefer. Ethiopia is a superb birding locale. It has about 845 species, without regard to Sibley's or other recent splits. My personal list, for 15 birding days, was 325. Our birding could be called relaxed, as species count was decidedly secondary to experiencing our natural and cultural surroundings. 
    ...
    ....Trip Report: Ethiopia (including Eritrea and Djibouti), 
      March 18 - April 13, 1998. By Mike Rogerson. The following trip report covers a 4 week period in "Abyssinia" (3 weeks in Ethiopia, 1 week in Eritrea and 24 hours in Djibouti). The trip was done alone, and for reasons of expense (hire car rates, especially 4WD vehicles, being very expensive in Ethiopia), apart from some cheap internal flights inside Ethiopia, public land transport was used throughout with the odd bit of hitch hiking. The trip, although primarily aimed at birding, did include several days heavily biased towards visits of Ethiopia's outstanding historical sites specifically around Gonder and Lalibela which can to some extent be combined with birding. 
    ...
    ....Trip Report: Ethiopia, October 8-27 1999 by Jan Vermeulen. 
      The following report covers the 19 days I spent in October 1999 in Ethiopia. The main objective of the trip was to see all of the endemic species. Ethiopia is not the famine-stricken and war-torn country most people imagine. On the contrary, it is, on the whole, stable and friendly, with a fairly good infrastructure, and the almost complete absence of dangerous animals makes it possible to bird on foot in most places. 
    ...
    ....Trip Report: Birding Ethiopia, 14 November - 18 December 1999. 
      By Michael Mills, Claire Spottiswoode, Duan Biggs, Gus Mills and Peter Osborn. About 840 species have been recorded in Ethiopia, of which about 30 are endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea. Most of these endemics are quite easy to see  and are concentrated in the central and southern parts of the country. Ethiopia also boasts numerous near-endemics.
    ....
    ....Trip Report: Ethiopia and Djibouti,  27 November 1999 - 
      17 January 2000 by Giles Mulholland. The complete trip report with all its appendices would have been much too large in one piece. It is therefore broken into five sections.
    ....
    ....Additional Trip Reports - are available from John Girdley's Birdtours
      website.
    ....
    Factoids taken from Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley.

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Tours and Guides

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birdingpal.com...>> A Birding Pal is not a paid guide, but someone who likes to help out of town visitors. You can become a Birding Pal today! Help someone to enjoy your local birding spots and find a pal to help you when you travel. Click here for Eritrean Birding Pals, Ethiopian Birding Pals, or join to be a Birding Pal!
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White-billed Starling - Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
Photo copyright Lieuwe Dijksen
    **..

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Eco-Lodges

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Endemics and Specialities

in Ethiopia

Information on endemics and specialities is derived from Sibley & Monroe checklists and bird distribution lists in Thayer's Birder's Diary - Version 2.05, supplemented by material found in Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley. African speciality birds, while not endemic, are those that can only be found in three or less countries of Africa. Information on endangered birds is derived from the IUCN Red List, Birdlife International.  The endemic, endangered and speciality birds may be uncommon, extremely rare vagrants, may be extirpated in the country now or may only be present in migration. However, documented sightings of each species noted below have been made in Ethiopia. 

 
Endemics in Ethiopia
For some photos of Ethiopian Endemics - see Lieuwe Dijksen's site

___ Abyssinian Catbird
___ Abyssinian Longclaw
___ Abyssinian Siskin
___ Abyssinian Woodpecker
___ Abyssinian Yellow-throated 
___ Seedeater
___ Ankobar Serin
___ Banded Barbet
___ Black-winged Lovebird
___ Blue-winged Goose
___ Brown-Sawwing
___ Dark-headed Oriole
___ Degodi Lark
___ Erlanger's Lark
___ Harwood's Francolin
___ Lineated Pytilia
___ Nechisar Nightjar
___ Rouget's Rail
___ Rueppell's Chat
___ Ruspoli's Turaco
___ Salvadori's Seedeater
___ Spot-breasted Lapwing
___ Stresemann's Bush-Crow
___ Wattled Ibis
___ White-tailed Swallow
___ White-winged Cliff-Chat
___ Yellow-fronted Parrot
___ Yellow-throated Seedeater
Endangered Birds in Ethiopia
(endemics are printed in bold italic)

Breeding Birds

Non-Breeding Birds

___ Ankober Serin
___ Archer's Lark
___ Degodi Lark
___ Harwood's Francolin 
___ Northern Bald Ibis
___ Red Sea Swallow
___ Ruspoli's Turaco
___ Savadori's Serin
___ Sidamo Lark
___ Stresmann's Bush-Crow
___ Taita Falcon
___ Wattled Crane
___ White-eyed Gull
___ White-tailed Swallow
___ White-winged Flufftail
___ Yellow-throated Seedeater
___ Corn Crake
___ Ferruginous Pochard
___ Greater Spotted Eagle
___ Imperial Eagle
___ Lesser Kestrel
___ Sociable Lapwing

Other Speciality and Spectacular Birds in Ethiopia
(adapted from Where to Watch Birds in Africa - by Nigel Wheatley.)

___ Abyssinian Grosbeak-Canary
___ Abyssinian Lark
___ Abyssinian Roller
___ Abyssinian Slaty-Flycatcher
___ Abyssinian Waxbill
___ African Pygmy-Goose
___ Arabian Bustard
___ Black-billed Woodhoopoe
___ Black-throated Firefinch
___ Black-winged Lapwing
___ Blanford's Lark
___ Blue Sawwing
___ Blue-breasted Bee-eater
___ Boran Cisticola
___ Broad-winged White-eye
___ Brown-tailed Apalis
___ Brown-rumped Seed-eater
___ Chestnut-naped Francolin
___ Collared Lark
___ Cretzchmar's Babbler
___ Donaldson's-Smith 
___ Sparrow-Weaver
___ Erkel's Francolin
___ Friedmann's Lark
___ Gillett's Lark
___ Hueglin's Bustard
___ Little Brown Bustard
___ Masked Lark
___ Moorland Chat
___ Moorland Francolin
___ Red-naped Bushshrike
___ Salvadori's Weaver
___ Scaly Babbler
___ Scaly Chatterer
___ Sidamo Lark
___ Short-billed Crombec
___ Somali Bee-eater
___ Somali Crombec
___ Somali Sparrow
___ Somali Wheatear
___ Sombre Chat
___ Swainson's Sparrow
___ Thick-billed Raven
___ White-backed Tit
___ White-billed Starling
___ White-cheeked Turaco
___ White-collared Pigeon
___ White-winged Collared-Dove
___ White-rumped Babbler
___ Yellow-throated Sandgrouse

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