Tanzania is one of the top birding destinations in the world. The country boost an extraordinary wealth of birdlife, infact more than 10% of world birds and half of Africa’s are found here. There are 1156 recorded birds, out of these austanding number more than 30 are endemics, more than 800 are residents, 4 are introduced, more than 200 are migrants and 56 are of global concern. This amazing country holds part of the several endemic birds areas (EBAs) which is unrivalled anywhere else in the continent.

Birds are randomly distributed and each species has a characteristic geographical range which varies froms extremely small and  localised such as the endemic Beesly’s lark to virtually worldwide Barn owl. At a local scale, bird distribution are determined largely by habitat types, from the icy capped mount kilimanjaro to the rolling grasslands of the great Serengeti plains to the Miombo woodlands of Mikumi National park to the Afrotropical Montane forest of the Eastern Arc mountains to the blue waters of the Indian ocean, there are always birds of a different feather.

There are 6 Biomes restricted areas in Tanzania which host different specialities, the Guinea Congo tropical forest with 56 species, the Lake Victoria basin with 11 species, the Afro tropical islands with 91 species, the Somali Maasai arid zone with 77 species, the East-Coast with 26 species and the Zambezian biome with 40 species. In addition there are 3 secondary endemic bird areas, the South Western Tanzania swamps, the Kilombero flood plains and the dry woodlands of lake Victoria.

Depending on what you want to see birding is pleasant all year round, for Palearctic migrants the best time is from September to April and for resident birds and other afromigrants any time of the year