Lake Baringo Birding

Lake Baringo is a fantastic location for bird watching in Kenya. I grew up in Lake Baringo, where I developed my interest in birding and I never get tired of going out to observe all the species in my backyard. Yesterday, with my friend Wilson Tiren, down by the shore of the lake and at the rocky cliff we spotted some impressive species! There are approximately 500  bird species in and around the lake. We spent a full day birding and managed to come up with this list of species for those keen birders who are wondering what can be seen in this area of the Great Rift Valley.

1. Cattle egret
2. Intermediate Egret
3. Hammerkop
4. Green-backed heron

   

5. Hadada ibis
6. Glossy ibis
7. Sacred ibis
8. Grey heron
9. Egyptian goose
10. Black-shouldered kite
11. Imperial eagle
12. Fish eagle

    

13. Black-chested snake eagle
14. Eurasian mash harrier
15. Dark chanting goshawk
16. Gabar gashawk
17. Shikra
18. African harrier-hawk
19. Verreaux’s eagle
20. Common kestrel
21. Pygmy falcon
22. Lanner falcon
23. Crested francolin
24. Black crake
25. Purple swamphen
26. African jacana
27. Spotted thick-knee
28. Heuglin’s courser
29. Common sandpiper
30. Emerald-spotted wood dove
31. Namaqua dove
32. Laughing dove
33. African mourning dove
34. Brown parrot
35. White-bellied go-away-bird
36. Black and white cuckoo
37. Diedrik’s cuckoo
38. White-browed coucal
39. Pearl-spotted owlet
40. Little swift
41. Blue-naped mousebird
42. Pied kingfisher
43. Striped kingfisher
44. Grey-headed kingfisher
45. Woodland kingfisher
46. Malachite kingfisher
47. Little bee-eater
48. Northern carmine bee-eater
49. Lilac-breasted roller
50. Rufous-crowned roller
51. Green wood-hoopoe
52. African hoopoe
53. Eurasian hoopoe
54. Jackson’s hornbill
55. Red-billed hornbill
56. Hemprich’s hornbill
57. D’arnaud’s barbet
58. Red and yellow barbet
59. Black-throated barbet
60.  Lesser honeyguide
61. Greater honeyguide
62. Scaly-throated honeyguide
63. Nubian woodpecker
64. Grey woodpecker
65. Rock martin
66. Red-rumped swallow
67. Barn swallow
68. Common bulbul
69. Northern brownbul
70. Cliff chat
71. Isabelline wheatear
72. White-browed scrub robin
73. Spotted morning thrush
74. Olivaceous warbler
75. Northern crombec
76. Yellow-bellied eromomela
77. Red-fronted warbler
78. Pale prinia
79. Grey-wren warbler
80. Yellow-breasted aplis
81. African-grey flycatcher
82. Pygmy batis
83. African paradise flycatcher
84. Brown-babbler
85. Northern grey-tit
86. Beautiful sunbird
87. Hunter’s sunbird
88. Eastern violet-backed sunbird
89. Brubru
90. Slate-coloured boubou
91. Sulphur-breasted bush-shrike
92. Grey-headed bush-shrike
93. Northern white-crowned shrike
94. Drongo
95. Black-headed oriole
96. Red-billed oxpecker
97. Greater-blue-eared starling
98. Superb starling
99. Yellow-spotted petronia
100. Grey-headed sparrow
101. White-browed sparrow weaver
102. White-headed buffalo weaver
103. White-billed buffalo weaver
104. Black-headed weaver
105. Lesser-masked weaver
106. Vitalline masked weaver
107. Northern masked weaver
108. Jackson’s golden-backed weaver