Birding Safari In Selous Game Reserve

Birding Safari In Selous Game Reserve: When the sun is shining brightly and the lions are lying belly-up in the shade of a tree, it’s time to look up and observe the bustling bird life above you. View flashes of iridescent color and listen to songbirds. You might see weavers squabbling over space and materials as they weave their intricately woven nests. Perhaps you’ll see a tango between potential mates as the male puffs out his feathers to impress.

East Africa is brimming with prime birding spots, whether you’re content with the occasional sighting from your car or prefer to go on a twitching mission. Choose your best binoculars, pack your zoom lens, and meet with a guide who shares your enthusiasm. A birding safari, whether on foot or in a 4×4, slows the pace and reveals a world of details. You might find yourself parked quietly beside a popular watering hole, watching who comes and goes, or crouched in the undergrowth, waiting for that telltale flutter of movement.

With 22 national parks and game reserves, Tanzania is one of the best places to go on a birding safari because there are so many different bird species there. The best places to go on a birding safari in Tanzania include the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Nyerere, Tarangire, Mkomazi, Katavi, Ruaha National Park, and the Selous Game Reserve, one of Africa’s largest game reserves.

Selous is a great place to watch birds because it has over 440 different species of birds that have been identified there. The lagoons, islands, River Rufiji, channels, and sandbanks in this reserve are home to some of the most beautiful bird habitats. Taking a boat safari is the best way to see the local Tanzania bird species. There are many migratory birds from the month of November to the month of April.

Some of the most remarkable bird species worth seeing in Selous game reserve includes:

  • The spur-winged lapwing
  • African wattled lapwing
  • White-fronted Bee-eater
  • Pel’s fishing owl (rare)
  • African spoonbill, and
  • Common White-headed vulture

BIRDS IN SELOUS GAME RESERVE: BIRDING SPECIES

Some of the bird species in the Selous game reserve includes: the pearl-spotted owlet, White-headed Lapwing, African Skimmer, Böhm’s Bee-Eater, Yellow-billed stork, Pel’s fishing owl Broad-billed roller, White-fronted plover, Brown-headed parrot, White-backed vulture, Brown-necked parrot, Black-winged stilt, Palm-nut vulture, Dickinson’s kestrel, Racket-tailed roller, Thick-billed Cuckoo, White-backed night heron, Carmine bee-eater as well as the Rock Pratincole

BIRDS IN SELOUS GAME RESERVE: BEST TIME FOR BIRD WATCHING

All year long, the Selous is a great place to go bird watching. The rainy season is the best time to see birds because migratory birds from northern Africa and Europe start to arrive in the month of April. Since nearly all of the local bird species begin nesting at the same time, spotting birds in their breeding plumage is not difficult. The majority of the camps close in April, which is the end of the wet season, and then reopen in June. We suggest visiting from June to October if you want to see the most wildlife.

Among the most frequently seen bird species in the Selous Game Reserve are: the mosque swallow, the brown-breasted barbet, purple-banded sunbird, Mangrove kingfishers, Von der Decken’s hornbill, African skimmers, a pearl-spotted owl, palm-nut vulture, Layard’s black-headed weavers, freckled nightjars, grey Penduline-tit, grey-hooded kingfisher, red-throated twin spot, waders, wattle-eyed flycatchers, broad-billed roller, spotted-flanked barbet, green-billed coucal, Arnot’s chat, long-tailed fiscal, Sterling’s barred warbler, Livingstone’s flycatcher, white helmet-shrikes, red-winged warbler, Boehm’s bee-eater, red-throated twin spot, black cuckoo-shrike, green-capped eremomela, green-capped eremomela, red-faced Crombec, red-billed helmetshrike, spotted-flanked barbet, yellow-bellied bulbul, Bennett’s woodpecker, Dickinson’s kestrel as well as a pearl-spotted owl.

Birding Safari In Selous Game Reserve
Birding Safari In Selous Game Reserve

BEST PARKS IN TANZANIA TO WATCH BIRDS

All renowned safari parks provide exceptional opportunities for bird watching, and you can easily spot specials almost everywhere you go. The little-known Arusha National Park in northern Tanzania boasts an incredible variety of habitats and even takes pride in housing 400 different species of birds within its confines. Additionally, Lake Manyara offers an amazing diversity of water-related bird species.

 A BIRD-WATCHING SAFARI IN SOUTHERN TANZANIA

Even though the more expensive Western regions offer Mahale and Katavi game reserves, safaris to southern Tanzania include activities like visiting the Selous and Ruaha wildlife reserves.

The most popular national parks in southern Tanzania are Ruaha and the Selous, despite the fact that they receive far fewer visitors than the parks in the north. These southern parks offer long and short safaris, game drives in open-sided tourist vehicles, boat safaris, and the unusual but extremely thrilling walking safaris.

Small tented lodges are available in these parks, which are more private than the large hotels in the north and considerably less expensive than lodging options in northern Tanzania.

CONCLUSION:

With our safari company, you can go bird watching in the Selous Game Reserve and have the best gorilla trekking experience for your money. Tanzania provides a unique experience for travelers looking for a profoundly enlightening safari that is hard to find elsewhere. For a thorough itinerary for your unforgettable trip to Tanzania, contact Focus East Africa Tours.