Photos with this report (click to enlarge) | |||
 Purple-breasted Sunbird |
 Regal Sunbird |
 African Stonechat |
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 Variable Sunbird |
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I recently traveled to Burundi with a team from UNICEF to design a sustainable business model to bring electric lighting to some of the most impoverished communities in the world (shameless plug: visit here for more information). However, I wasn't going to travel all the way to one of the least-visited regions of the Albertine Rift without exploring the local avian fauna!
It is not easy to arrange a competent guide to Kibira National Forest, home to 21 of the 47 Albertine Rift endemics (per BirdLife), as well as a variety of other biome-restricted species. The contiguous Nyungwe forest in neighboring Rwanda offers 25 of the 47, and is significantly easier and safer to visit - but was not easily reachable from my base in Bujumbura. After extensive searching, Marje Hemp was able to put me in touch with a Kigali-based guide named Claudien Nsabagasani. Overall in two days in Kibira I was able to identify 69 species (following eBird's taxonomy), including 11 of the Albertine Rift endemics. Claudien had an additional 24 species, several of which were heard only, that I was not able to observe reliably and did not count for my list.
We departed my hotel in Bujumbura at 6:00 am (travel while dark is not recommended in Burundi), and drove approximately one hour to stop for a small breakfast just outside the park and meet a local park ranger. The roads along the way are perilous - a recent rain storm in February had washed many parts of the road, landslides on the road from the storm are common and hazards, such as a cliff edge or large construction stones in the road are largely unmarked. The breakfast stop yielded the first birds of the day:
White-necked Raven
African Paradise-Flycatcher
Black Sawwing
Rock Martin
Variable Sunbird
European Bee-Eater
Continuing on an additional half hour, including more roads in rough shape, to the Teza Tea Plantation, we stopped at the Kibira park office to pay the modest entrance fee. Notably, the rusted remains of a gas station linger next to the park office - I'm told that visitors to the park were so frequent before the war that a gas station was necessary to refuel all the visiting cars. Now, visitors are very infrequent (though I do note other recent entries in the guest log) and the two or three rangers on staff seem to spend most of their time idly.
We spent the day hiking in Kibira just north of Teza, with a lunch break on a grassy peak overlooking the plantation from 7,900 feet (the hike started around 6,900 feet). Scattered among the grass and scrub were piles of wood chips, with several tatters of camouflage scattered about. Later, I was able to see the rebel camp itself on the most recent Google Earth satellite photos - the ranger, who spoke reasonably good English for the area, simply indicated that this was the remain of an "army" camp and was unconcerned. However, it seems the UN warning against travel to the region is based on reasonable cause. Birds from the first day in Kibira are as follow, in chronological order (Albertine Rift endemics, interesting birds):
White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher (7:40 AM)
Purple-breasted Sunbird
Yellow-bellied Waxbill
Slender-billed Starling
African Yellow White-Eye
Regal Sunbird
Ruwenzori Apalis
Mountain Buzzard
Dusky-brown Flycatcher
Stuhlmann's Sunbird
Collared Sunbird
Banded Prinia
Red-faced Woodland-Warbler
Ruwenzori Batis
White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher
Streaky Seedeater
Doherty's Bushshrike
White-headed Sawwing
Barn Swallow
Little Swift
African Stonechat
White-headed Woodhoopoe
Black-billed Turaco
Equatorial Akalat
Strange Weaver
African Hill Babbler
Black-tailed Oriole
Crowned Hornbill
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Bronze Sunbird
Common Bulbul
Mackinnon's Shrike
Chubb's Cisticola
Angola Swallow (4:19 PM)
Heard only: Great Blue Turaco
While the species count was low, I was rewarded with some great looks at some fantastic birds.
We drove to a nearby town called Kayanza, and eventually found our destination Hotel Paradis after a detour when the main road to the hotel was blocked by trucks, workers and large stones. Arriving just as a downpour began, a local wedding party of about 30 people was huddled under the small overhang. The hotel itself was very modest, with an on-demand electric water heater that didn't work (cold shower). Dinner, while basic, was delicious - slow-braised goat shoulder (a local specialty) with a spicy hot sauce served on the side. Jet lag let me sleep only four hours, so I spent most of the night discovering how dark it gets in Burundi when there is a blackout after the power went out around 3 AM.
I went outside at sunrise around 6 AM and birded the small grounds around the hotel (just a few trees and shrubs inside the walled area:
Pied Crow
White-headed Black-Chat
White-necked Raven
Red-rumped Swallow
Mosque Swallow
Black Kite
Tropical Boubou
Back on the road at 6:45 (bit of a slow start as the kitchen still didn't have electricity, and breakfast options in the area were very limited). For day two, we traveled to the Rwegura Reservoir, stopping to pick up a different ranger (with no English) in a town along the way and hiking up a small unmarked trail on the south side of the road just east of the dam. Birding on this point-to-point trail was overall slower than near Teza, but with some great spurts of activity and a scenic view of the reservoir from the top.
Strange Weaver (7:42 AM)
Yellow-streaked Greenbul
Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
Red-faced Woodland-Warbler
Stripe-breasted Tit
White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher
Stuhlmann's Sunbird
Blue-headed Sunbird
African Yellow White-Eye
Black-faced Apalis
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Collared Sunbird
Regal Sunbird
Dusky-brown Flycatcher
Red-throated Alethe
Black-billed Turaco
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Black Kite
Crowned Hornbill
Narina Trogon
Banded Prinia
Northern Puffback
Ruwenzori Batis
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul (11:53 AM)
We emerge back on the road approximately 2 miles east of the dam, and walk back toward the dam where the driver is waiting with the car. A few locals whiz by the other direction with large loads of charcoal on their bicycles, after fifteen minutes a car passes and the ranger is able to hitchhike back to the car to retrieve our driver. We pass through a check point guarded by three late teenage-looking soldiers to visit a swamp to the west of the dam in hopes of finding Grauer's Swamp Warbler, but with no luck. A brief stop for lunch, consisting of a chicken leg and thigh drenched in palm oil with cooked tomatoes, onions and spices wrapped in tin foil from the hotel that morning - quite tasty, but very messy. We are able to spot a few more species in the heat of the day:
Black Sawwing
African Stonechat
Common Waxbill
White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher
Purple-breasted Sunbird
Black-headed Waxbill
Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler
Common Bulbul
Streaky Seedeater
We drive back to the reservoir dam, where a few soldiers are patrolling. The water level is at least fifteen to twenty feet below the overflow outlet, and my guide indicates that the ranger says the water is much warmer than normal given the low level. We are able to find a single Little Grebe far out in the middle of the reservoir while walking for a few minutes along the edge of the water, before returning to the jeep. As we pass the soldiers, one of them very politely shakes each of our hands as we walk by and my guide, who passes last, slips him thousand francs or two ($1 - $2).
Back at my hotel on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in Bujumbura I had the following:
House Sparrow
Northern Grey-headed Sparrow
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Cattle Egret
Laughing Dove
Speckled Mousebird
Common Bulbul
White-browed Robin-Chat
Pied Cuckoo
Birds claimed by Claudien over the weekend but not seen by me:
African Green-Pigaon
African Harrier-Hawk
African Hill Babbler
African Pied Wagtail
Arrow-marked Babbler
Augur Buzzard
Barred Long-tailed Cuckoo (HO)
Black-throated Apalis
Bronze Mannikin
Brown-throated Wattle-eye
Chestnut-throated Apalis
Grey-backed Camaroptera
Klaas's Cuckoo (HO)
Lesser Striped Swallow
Little Greenbul
Mountain Black Boubou
Mountain Greenbul
Olive Pigeon
Pin-tailed Whydah
Red-chested Cuckoo (HO)
Red-eyed Dove
Speckled Mousebird
Spot-flanked Barbet
White-browed Crombec
Yellow-throated Greenbul
At the end of the week working with UNICEF I had the opportunity to visit the Rusizi Delta Nature Reserve on Friday, May 2, when I took an hour-long ride in a leaky boat with the rest of the group I was traveling with. I was able to find the following species during that ride, and in a half hour walk after the ride:
Fulvous Whistling-Duck (7:28 AM)
Great Cormorant
White-faced Whistling-Duck
Pied Kingfisher
Comb Duck
Cattle Egret
Laughing Dove
Red-eyed Dove
African Skimmer
Gray-hooded Gull
Greater Flamingo
Ruff
Collared Pratincole
Long-tailed Cormorant
Gray Heron
Village Weaver
Spur-winged Plover
Red Bishop
Speckled Mousebird
Little Swift
Pin-tailed Whydah
African Openbill
Northern Gray-headed Sparrow
Southern Fiscal
Common Bulbul
Hartlaub's Babbler
Holub's Golden-Weaver
Winding Cisticola
Bronze Mannikin (9:05 AM)
My complete species list for Burundi is as follows, including a few birds seen casually around Bujumbura:
African Hill Babbler
African Openbill
African Paradise-Flycatcher
African Pied Wagtail
African Skimmer
African Stonechat
African Thrush
African Yellow White-Eye
Angola Swallow
Banded Prinia
Barn Swallow
Black Kite
Black Sawwing
Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill
Black-billed Turaco
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Black-faced Apalis
Black-headed Waxbill
Black-tailed Oriole
Blue-headed Sunbird
Bronze Mannikin
Bronze Sunbird
Cattle Egret
Chubb's Cisticola
Cinnamon Bracken-Warbler
Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater
Collared Pratincole
Collared Sunbird
Comb Duck
Common Bulbul
Common Waxbill
Crowned Hornbill
Doherty's Bushshrike
Dusky-brown Flycatcher
Equatorial Akalat
European Bee-Eater
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Gray Heron
Gray-hooded Gull
Great Cormorant
Greater Flamingo
Hartlaub's Babbler
Holub's Golden-Weaver
House Sparrow
Laughing Dove
Little Grebe
Little Swift
Long-crested Eagle
Long-tailed Cormorant
Mackinnon's Shrike
Mosque Swallow
Mountain Buzzard
Narina Trogon
Northern Gray-headed Sparrow
Northern Puffback
Pied Crow
Pied Cuckoo
Pied Kingfisher
Pin-tailed Whydah
Purple-breasted Sunbird
Red Bishop
Red-eyed Dove
Red-faced Woodland-Warbler
Red-rumped Swallow
Red-throated Alethe
Regal Sunbird
Rock Martin
Ruff
Ruwenzori Apalis
Ruwenzori Batis
Slender-billed Starling
Southern Fiscal
Speckled Mousebird
Spur-winged Plover
Strange Weaver
Streaky Seedeater
Stripe-breasted Tit
Stuhlmann's Sunbird
Tropical Boubou
Variable Sunbird
Village Weaver
White-browed Robin-Chat
White-eyed Slaty-Flycatcher
White-faced Whistling-Duck
White-headed Black-Chat
White-headed Sawwing
White-headed Woodhoopoe
White-necked Raven
White-tailed Crested-Flycatcher
Winding Cisticola
Yellow Bishop
Yellow-bellied Waxbill
Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird
Yellow-streaked Greenbul
Yellow-whiskered Greenbul