Trip Report – Tanzania Birding

February, 2026

Tomasz Klys, Poland

I and 4 my friends took the birding trip in Tanzania from 6th Feb to 27th Feb 2026, organized by Deogratius Muhumuza, owner of Budget Birding Africa (previously: Uganda Eco Tours). Our second bird guid during tour was Abdulrahman Adam. Both, Deo and Abdul, are excellent guides - due to their perception and knowledge of African birds, I have twitched 470 species of birds (some my colleagues have more, around 480, since due to my shortsightedness and forgetting to take my spectacles I have missed some species) and 30 species of mammals.

We have visited following places: Lark Plains, Mererani Masai Steppe, Shambarai Plateau and Swamp, Arusha NP, area around Mkomazi NP, South Pare Mountains, West Usambara Mountains, Magamba Forest, Amani Reserve, Morogoro, Mikumi-Kilusa Road Miombo, Magombera Forest, Udzungwa Mountains NP, Kilombero Swamp, Mikumi NP, Mbulu Highalnda, Ukaguru Mountains, Nou Forest Reserve, Tarangire NP, Karatu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area Gate and Ndutu Plains, south of Serengeti NP.

All these places are very picturesque and full of animals. To African Great Five Leopard is, unfortunately, lacking but other members of the group (Elephant, Lion, Buffalo and Black Rhino) made show for us. Among mammals were of course great amount of different antelopes (great herds of Wildbeest, Eland, Impala, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, Thomson and Grant Gazelles, Ugogo Dikdik, Bohor Reedbuck), also Zebras, Masai Giraffes, Warthogs, Cheetah, Spotted Hyaenas, Hippos, Black-backed Jackal, 3 species of Mongoose, Galago, Yellow and Olive Baboons, Vervet Monkey, Blue Monkey, Udzungwa Red Colobus.

As for birds - among this 470 species were 5 Turacos, 8 Bee-eaters, 3 Orioles (among them - Green-headed!), 4 Rollers, 4 Batises, 4 Vultures, Secretarybird, Martial Eagle, Bateleur and a lot of other raptors, 3 Bustards (among them - Kori), 8 Hornbills (among them - Southern Ground Hornbiil), Grey Crowned Crane, 7 Cuckoos, Storks, Herons, Lapwings and other Waders, 13 Cisticolas, a lot of Weavers, Bishops, Widowbirds and Whydas, 19 Sunbirds, a lot of Passerines - Larks, White-eyes, Warblers, Sparrows, Wren-Warblers, Canaries, Seedeaters, Starlings, Waxbills, Firefinches, Shrikes, Boubous, Tchagras, Wattle-eyes. Among them there were a lot of endemic or near-endemic species. The bird of the trip was, however, Pel's Fishing Owl. Fantastic views of this impressive bird we had at the edge of Magombera Forest.

From Deo and Abdul we got a lot of information about country, people, their habits etc. Our meetings with some people (e.g. with Masai men helping us to repair our car) were really unforgettable. This was my second trip with Deo (previous in 2013 around Uganda) and was similarly rich with species, adventures and memories.

Download a full list of birds and mammals seen on our trip